Community Connection gets $296,917 in state shelter funding

Community Connection of Northeast Oregon is set to receive $296,917 in state shelter money, an award that could help keep beds open, staff in the field and rehousing work moving for people in Union County who need short-term help.

Governor Tina Kotek’s office announced more than $102 million in Statewide Shelter Program awards to 22 regional coordinators across Oregon. For Northeast Oregon, the grant puts Community Connection in the middle of the region’s shelter response, with the nonprofit serving Baker, Union, Wallowa and Grant counties from a system built to connect people to stability through individualized services and resources.

The funding matters locally because Community Connection is not a distant statewide agency. It has served Baker, Union and Wallowa counties since 1969, and Grant County was added in 1987. In practice, that means residents in La Grande and other Union County communities who are facing eviction, sleeping outside or trying to leave a crisis situation may be routed through a provider that already works across the county line and can coordinate shelter, outreach, navigation and stabilization help.

State guidance says the Statewide Shelter Program is intended to maintain shelter operations, services, administration and bed capacity, with priority for low-barrier shelters and support for recovery-based shelters. That makes the award more than a line item for a nonprofit budget. It is an operating subsidy for the machinery that determines whether a shelter bed is available, whether an outreach worker can keep returning to the same person living outdoors, and whether a family can move faster toward permanent housing.

The state’s broader homeless response puts the award in a larger context. Kotek declared homelessness a state emergency in January 2023 and has extended those orders each year since. In 2024, she signed House Bill 3644, which established Oregon’s first permanent statewide shelter program, and her office said the measure included $204.9 million for the next two years of the effort. The latest awards continue that structure rather than standing alone as a one-time grant.

For Union County, the key accountability question is how much local capacity $296,917 actually buys against the need in La Grande and the rest of the county. Oregon state materials say the 2023 Point-in-Time count found more than 20,000 people experiencing homelessness statewide, underscoring the scale of the problem Community Connection and other regional providers are being asked to manage. In rural Northeast Oregon, where distances are long and staffing is thin, the real test of the award will be whether it strengthens the shelter network enough to keep pace with demand.