With three decades of experience working to house people in need, Bobby Weinstock shares his perspective on how to keep people housed
Bobby Weinstock’s original career idea was to become a psychologist. Just shy of completing his graduate degree, he decided that instead of treating patients one on one in a clinical setting, he could help shape public policies that contribute to the well-being of many people at a time.
He began his career in affordable housing in 1982, with Burnside Projects (now Transition Projects). For 32 years, from 1989 until his retirement this July, he worked for Northwest Pilot Project (NWPP), a social services organization whose mission is to address the housing needs of seniors aged 55 and older. Weinstock worked as NWPP’s Housing Placement Specialist, then Housing Program Manager, then Housing Advocate, forging long-term relationships with building owners and managers, and tracking the number of units needed to house vulnerable Portlanders. Later in his career, and right up until his retirement, he was NWPP’s in-house champion of rental voucher programs, which he played a lead role in developing. Multnomah County Chair Deborah Kafoury has praised the innovative use of “Weinstock vouchers,” as she’s called them, to make housing more affordable.
Affordable housing is a must, Weinstock believes, because mere temporary protection from the elements cannot end homelessness. But the psychological stability that comes from having a place of one’s own to cook, take a shower, invite a friend over — all ingredients in what Weinstock calls “a dignified life” — truly can. As for street homelessness, Weinstock sees it as a cry for help. At the same time, he understands how some Portlanders have become distressed by the state of widespread camping. “It’s painful. You see people suffering and that hurts, and then you want to figure out a way to address that hurt.” Instead of becoming exasperated, Weinstock recommends, “the better way to address the mix of alarm and compassion that people feel when they see folks in tents and doorways is to be part of the effort to create truly affordable apartments.”
To those who say that for all the taxpayer dollars spent, all the long-term plans to end homelessness, it simply can’t be done, Weinstock suggests they should tilt back their heads. “What’s most visible to the public is street homelessness. What the public doesn’t see, because it would require looking up, are the success stories.” Look up while you’re downtown, he says, and count the lights on in each of the deeply affordable apartment buildings and hotels that still exist. “Each of those lights represents a success of the public investment in preventing homelessness. A lot of folks have given up on ending homelessness, but I haven’t.”
After a full career in the housing field, something of the therapist remains in Weinstock. He talks about “heart pain.” He’s an excellent listener. He believes in every person’s inherent self-worth, and he’s deeply committed to the myriad mental, physical, social and economic benefits that stem from affordable long-term housing.
Rubin: For those who aren’t familiar with the term, what exactly is affordable housing?
Weinstock: Housing is affordable if the combined cost of rent and utilities consumes no more than 30% of a household’s income. Anything over that, and a household is considered “rent-burdened.” Most of the seniors I served at NWPP had Social Security incomes of $800-$1,500 per month.
Rubin: So, for that population, affordable housing means rent that’s $240-$450 per month?
Weinstock: Correct. Unfortunately, there aren’t many housing options in that range.
Rubin: Prior to COVID-19, we already had a housing crisis in Multnomah County. How did that crisis come about?
Weinstock: When I started in the field in the 1980s, over 5,000 affordable hotel rooms and modest apartments existed downtown. Prior to COVID-19, that number was already down to around 3,000. When people say, where did this mass homelessness come from, well, we lost 2,000 deeply affordable places to live, just in downtown. The same trend occurred in close-in neighborhoods throughout the county. In terms of the true need for affordable housing in Multnomah County, we were already about 26,000 apartments short prior to COVID-19.
Rubin: That number’s going to skyrocket as soon as all the various eviction moratoriums expire? How are we ever going to build enough units?
Weinstock: New housing construction can help with rent levels for higher-income people, maybe even middle-income people, but new construction in and of itself cannot actually be the solution for the lowest-income group in our society, which is the group that ends up homeless. That was true prior to COVID-19, and that’s true today.
Rubin: Why can’t new construction be the solution?
Weinstock: It requires a minimum level of investment to build and operate an affordable apartment. To make the rent low enough for the lowest-income people would mean that you actually wouldn’t cover your costs. Basically, there’s no money to be made in the private-market construction of deeply affordable housing.
Rubin: If we can’t build our way out of the crisis, what can we do? Forget about the 26,000 apartment shortfall that existed prior to COVID-19. When the eviction moratoriums expire, we’re talking about a housing crisis that hasn’t existed since the Great Depression. What’s the housing solution for people who currently have no income?
Weinstock: Rent subsidies are necessary to create deeply affordable housing. That was true prior to COVID-19, and it’s even more true now. If we believe housing is a human right, we ought to make the federal Section 8 Housing Choice Voucher Program an entitlement. If we did, very quickly we would eliminate the homelessness of most of the 600,000 households nationwide that are currently homeless, and we would offer an immediate solution to people newly out of work due to COVID-19. The problem with Section 8 as it currently stands is only 1 out of every 4 households that are income-eligible can actually obtain a voucher. Unlike the federal food stamp program, which is an entitlement, vouchers are limited and you get on a very long waitlist. Here in Portland, the list was already closed prior to COVID-19.
Rubin: Which brings us to your favorite subject; rental vouchers. For readers who have never heard of them before, introduce the concept.
Weinstock: A rental voucher fills the gap between what a household’s income is and what would make their house or apartment affordable to them, meaning that the tenant pays 30% of their income towards the rent and utilities, and the voucher pays the balance. A voucher can convert a non-affordable apartment in the private market into an affordable one. There are about 10,000 federal (“Section 8”) rental vouchers in Multnomah County. While I was at NWPP, my coworkers and I tried to supplement the inadequate supply of federal vouchers with locally-funded vouchers to better meet the demand of the people.
Thanks to Multnomah County, the City of Portland, Meyer Memorial Trust, Home Forward and CareOregon, we now have the Long-Term Rent Assistance Program that funds rental vouchers for 71 very low-income households in Multnomah County. Some of the participants in the program originally had housing they were about to lose because their rent burden was so high, and others were homeless when they entered the program, and then obtained housing. Of the 71 households, every one of them has stayed housed, with the exception of two where someone passed away due to natural causes, and one that moved, in good standing, out of state.
Knowing you’re going to be able to afford your rent month to month is a very powerful medicine. In terms of creating long-term housing stability for low-income people, there’s nothing that works quicker or more effectively than a rental voucher. The majority of low-income households, if they could just obtain ongoing rental assistance in the form of a voucher, they’re going to stabilize. They won’t ever become homeless. If they’ve been homeless, they won’t ever become homeless again.
Rubin: Given the enormity of the affordable crisis that the city, county and state are about to face due to COVID-19, could the current rental voucher program be dramatically scaled up?
Weinstock: The ballot measure for housing services (Metro Measure 26-210) that passed in May 2020 should be a game-changer. Funds started flowing in July 2021. It will be the first dedicated revenue source large enough to effectively address the magnitude of homelessness in the tri-county area, and it will offer the best chance of creating rental vouchers that will enable homeless and at-risk individuals and families to afford permanent housing.
On the state level, prior to COVID-19, I had been advocating for a study to show the potential benefits of a statewide rental voucher program, both for low-income Oregonians and for various areas of the state budget. I don’t think a study is needed anymore. The dire financial impacts of COVID-19 have made it clear to Oregonians and state legislators alike that vulnerable populations need more ongoing help to afford their rent.
Rubin: Could a state-wide rental voucher program really not only address the housing crisis but save the state money?
Weinstock: There are studies that show that rental vouchers are a very cost-effective way of, one, creating housing stability for vulnerable households, and two, saving all kinds of expenditures in the public domain, from shelter costs to law enforcement costs — because there are all kinds of low-level crimes you can be charged with that are associated with trying to sleep and survive outside — and then there’s the huge cost of the health-care complications that develop when you’re homeless. I remember reading an article in the New Yorker called “Million Dollar Murray,” about one homeless gentleman in New York City who in one year created one million dollars in public cost.
Rubin: It’s as if we’ve decided as a society that no one will be denied emergency medical care, but we won’t take a proven cost-effective step to dramatically decrease the need for emergency medical care.
Weinstock: That’s an irrational decision for a society to make.
Rubin: Speaking of irrational decisions, there’s been a lot of talk among both local activists and progressive members of Congress about the need to cancel rent and mortgage payments, not just postpone them. With many households already living paycheck to paycheck prior to COVID-19, the idea of being able to afford back rent, no matter how lengthy the forgiveness period, is ludicrous. While the statewide moratorium on residential evictions is obviously a step in the right direction, how would you like to see renter protections expanded?
Weinstock: I support the temporary statewide moratorium on evictions for non-payment of rent given the sudden and dramatic rise in unemployment. I’d like to see state and federal funds allocated to short-term rent support programs for low-income renters who lost their jobs or had their work hours reduced. I’d also like to see renters given at least one year from the end of the State of Emergency to have a better opportunity to acquire enough money to pay any past-due rent.
Rubin: In response to COVID-19, the city and county’s Joint Office of Homeless Services has begun operating outdoor social-distancing-compliant emergency shelters on Water Avenue, and more city-sanctioned camping areas are in the works. Given the scale of the housing crisis, both the current one and the larger one that awaits on the other side of the eviction moratoriums, do you support more measures like these?
Weinstock: I believe in housing solutions that create permanent, dignified, affordable housing. For most homeless people, this means the opportunity to obtain a modest, low-rent apartment. For low-income renters barely able to afford their current apartments, this means help to bridge the gap between their income and the rent. The more public resources spent on temporary shelter options, the less available for permanent housing solutions. However, during the COVID-19 crisis, it is a humanitarian imperative to create shelter and campsite space designed to prevent contagion. This is an essential survival service. Still, it’s important not to lose sight of the ultimate and attainable goal.
Rubin: What’s that again?
Weinstock: Creating permanent, dignified affordable housing through the provision of rental vouchers.
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