Clatsop County, OR. — State officials this week marked the opening of the Baker Building, a 32-unit Permanent Supportive Housing (PSH) project intended to serve people experiencing homelessness who have mental health and substance use disorders.
The development, led by Clatsop Behavioral Healthcare in partnership with Edlen & Company, will reserve at least nine units for individuals living with Serious and Persistent Mental Illness. Residents are expected to begin moving in by late March.
The ribbon-cutting comes as new statewide data shows Oregon’s homelessness crisis is worsening — even as shelter capacity expands.
Homelessness Rising Faster Than Shelter Capacity
According to a 2025 statewide homelessness report, as reported by KOIN, from Portland State University’s Homelessness Research and Action Collaborative, more than 27,000 people experienced homelessness in Oregon last year.
In Multnomah County alone, unsheltered homelessness increased 75% between 2023 and 2025. Statewide, 22 counties recorded increases in unsheltered homelessness during that period. Even with 3,094 additional year-round shelter beds added across Oregon since 2023, 61% of people experiencing homelessness — 16,512 individuals — remained without shelter in January 2025.
Clatsop County, where the Baker Building is located, has the highest rate of homelessness in Oregon at 29.75 people experiencing homelessness per 1,000 residents.
Researchers and service providers cited high rents, economic pressure and shortages of affordable housing with support services as primary drivers of the increases. A U.S. Government Accountability Office analysis has found that every $100 increase in median rent is associated with a 9% rise in homelessness.
Funding Sources
The Baker Building was financed through a mix of state, federal and local funding.Oregon Housing and Community Services provided $6 million in Permanent Supportive Housing development funds and will provide ongoing project-based rent assistance for most units, along with services funding for all units.
Oregon Health Authority also provided funding connected to behavioral health services, along with the Columbia Pacific Coordinated Care Organization. Clatsop Behavioral Healthcare received $2.7 million from House Bill 5024 and $2.1 million from House Bill 5202 during the 2021–23 biennium to support behavioral health infrastructure and services associated with the project.
Governor Tina Kotek, who earlier this year extended Oregon’s homelessness state of emergency, said in prepared remarks that projects like the Baker Building reflect the state’s approach of pairing housing with behavioral health services. Agency leaders described the development as part of broader efforts to expand access to supportive housing.
Scale Compared to Statewide Need
The Baker Building will provide 32 units in a county with the highest homelessness rate in Oregon. Statewide, more than 27,000 people experienced homelessness last year, according to the PSU report.
While state and local officials highlighted the project as a model for integrating housing and treatment services, researchers have emphasized that expanding shelter capacity alone has not reversed the broader upward trend in homelessness.
The PSU report found that although thousands more people were able to access shelter between 2023 and 2025, overall homelessness increased across most counties. More than 16,000 people statewide remained unsheltered as of January 2025.
The Baker Building represents a shift from temporary shelter toward permanent supportive housing, a model designed to provide long-term housing with voluntary services for people with complex needs. Whether projects of this scale can meaningfully reduce homelessness rates will depend on the pace of additional housing development and broader economic conditions affecting rent and housing supply.
For now, the building adds 32 units in a state where the need is measured in the tens of thousands.
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