The Office of the Governor of the State of Oregon
05/21/2026 | Press release | Archived content
5/21/2026: Older Adults Housing Announcement Remarks
Older Adults Housing Announcement Remarks
May 21, 2026
Good morning. We're here today, during Older Americans Month, to announce specific efforts getting underway to address housing affordability for older Oregonians.
Housing affordability is one of the most pressing issues we face as a state and a country - and we know that it particularly affects older adults. Too many Oregonians are faced with an impossible choice - staying in the communities they love - or finding a place they can afford or will meet their individual needs, such as accessibility at they get older. And for some, that choice pushes them out of their homes altogether and onto the streets.
Adults over the age of 55 are one of the fastest growing groups experiencing homelessness across the nation.
Older adults on fixed incomes are especially vulnerable when rents and living costs increase. More than half of Oregon renters are cost burdened, meaning they spend more than 30% of income on rent - and 80% of older Americans report a lack of accessibility features in their homes that they can't afford to add.
In Polk County, we recently saw just how devastating this reality can be. A 65-year-old woman named Karen, and her adult disabled daughter, lost the room they had been renting. With nowhere else to turn, they slept on a bench outside the Independence Library for weeks - all the way through Thanksgiving. The community rallied around them, raising enough money to place them in a motel for the holidays. But once that temporary support ended, they were back on the streets.
When Mid-Willamette Valley Community Action Agency found them, they were able to bring Karen and her daughter into stable housing through the Oregon Rehousing Initiative program.
The truth is simple: without this program, Karen and her daughter would almost certainly still be homeless today.
Their story is just one example, but it represents the fact that far too many older Oregonians are struggling to survive without the stable housing and services they need.
Affordability is a relentless contributor to homelessness in Oregon. And housing affordability is directly related to housing supply.
Today, I'm announcing four housing actions to support and advance the lives of older adults across our state. And I want to thank the legislature for their partnership on these efforts.
Beginning next month, my administration is doing the following:
Launch the Older Adult Housing Program, which will provide $24 million to construct new affordable rental homes for older Oregonians.
Make $50 million available through the Elderly and Disabled Bond Program to provide financing to galvanize new housing developments for older Oregonians.
Launch a Healthy Homes for Older Oregonians program, with $5 million for home repairs and renovations to stabilize older Oregonians in their current homes and ensure their housing remains safe and livable.
Transfer, under my emergency declaration, $15 million in surplus funds to rehouse unsheltered older Oregonians into existing affordable housing.
Together, these programs will rehouse over 420 unsheltered older adults experiencing homelessness, repair 1,000 homes to keep older adults safely and stably housed, and build over 100 new homes and increase unit yield for housing construction up to 14 percent.
But, to be clear, these efforts will augment other programs that are helping older Oregonians right now. In Oregon's eviction prevention program, for example, state-supported programs at the community level served 3,814 households that included someone over 55. That represents about 20% of households served by that program last biennium. For the state's long-term rental assistance program, 378 households with family members over 55 were served, which was 29% of those served in the program last biennium.
And let's continue to focus on production. Since the start of my administration, I have taken action to add over 50,000 future housing units to the production pipeline - making up the deficit of three previous years of underproduction. In 2025, year-over-year production of new permitted housing units in Oregon was up 5%, while the United States was down 3%. These numbers show we are aggressively tackling this issue.
What I'm doing today is going to help older Oregonians. My housing bill in this year's session - to expand construction of housing options for 55 and over communities and manufactured home communities - is now law, and that will help, too.
AARP's polling has shown that aging in place, getting to places independently, and having affordable options are critically important to older adults. All these efforts directly address those needs.
We must keep building, removing barriers, and pushing for housing affordability. Together, we are building an Oregon where everyone can afford housing, and no one sleeps outside.
Finally, to the older Oregonians who are struggling to find affordable housing right now: I see you. I'm working for you. And I won't stop until everyone in this state has a safe, stable, affordable place to call home. Thank you.
The Office of the Governor of the State of Oregon published this content on May 21, 2026, and is solely responsible for the information contained herein. Distributed via Public Technologies (PUBT), unedited and unaltered, on June 12, 2026 at 23:57 UTC. If you believe the information included in the content is inaccurate or outdated and requires editing or removal, please contact us at [email protected]