{{Short description|Housing authority in Multnomah County, Oregon, U.S.}} {{Use mdy dates|date=June 2019}} {{Infobox government agency | name = Home Forward | type = | logo = Home Forward (logo).png | logo_width = 250px | logo_caption = | formed = {{Start date|1941|12|11}} | jurisdiction = Multnomah County, Oregon, United States | headquarters = 135 SW Ash Street<br />Portland, Oregon, U.S. | coordinates = {{coord|45.5221|-122.6720|type:landmark_region:US-OR|display=inline,title}} | employees = | budget = | chief1_name = | chief1_position = | website = {{URL|www.homeforward.org}} }} '''Home Forward''', established in 1941 as the '''Housing Authority of Portland''', is a housing authority that serves Portland, Oregon, and nearby municipalities in Multnomah County, Oregon, United States. Home Forward maintains properties in Portland, Gresham, and Fairview {{as of|2026|lc=yes}}.<ref>{{cite web |title=Apartment Communities |url=https://www.homeforward.org/apartment-communities/ |publisher=Home Forward |access-date=January 31, 2026}}</ref> {{TOC limit|2}}
==Governance== Home Forward is led by a nine-member board of commissioners. All board members are volunteers who serve staggered four-year terms. Four commissioners are recommended by the City of Portland, two are recommended by the City of Gresham, two are recommended by Multnomah County, and one is recommended by the residents of Home Forward developments. The recommended board members are appointed by the Mayor of Portland and confirmed by the Portland City Council.<ref>{{cite web |title=Board of Commissioners |publisher=Home Forward |url=https://www.homeforward.org/board-of-commissioners/ |access-date=August 15, 2025}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.portlandoregon.gov/civic/article/84790 |title=Home Forward (formerly the Housing Authority of Portland or HAP) |publisher=The City of Portland, Oregon |access-date=June 28, 2019}}</ref>
==History== The Housing Authority of Portland (HAP) was created by the Portland City Council on December 11, 1941.<ref>{{cite web |last=Sanders |first=Richard |title=Housing Authority of Portland |website=The Oregon Encyclopedia |url=https://oregonencyclopedia.org/articles/housing_authority_of_portland/#.XQ67ApNKjfY |access-date=October 2, 2024}}</ref><ref>{{cite archive |item=22081 – Establishing Housing Authority of Portland |item-id=AD/11209 |date=December 11, 1941 |collection=City Auditor – City Recorder – Council Resolutions |institution=City of Portland Archives |item-url=https://efiles.portlandoregon.gov/Record/14244582/}}</ref> The city council created the agency in response to a massive influx of people who came to work at shipyards in the Portland area during World War II.<ref>{{cite web |last=Kramer |first=George |title=It Takes More Than Bullets: The WWII Homefront in Portland, Oregon |location=Eugene, Oregon |publisher=Heritage Research Associates |date=December 2006 |url=https://www.oregon.gov/oprd/HCD/OHC/docs/multnomah_portland_wwIIcontext_2006.pdf |oclc=892120709}}</ref> HAP developed several housing projects over the course of the war, including Guild's Lake Courts<ref name="March 2010">{{cite thesis |last=March |first=Tanya Lyn |title=Guild's Lake Courts: An Impermanent Housing Project |type=Ph.D. dissertation |publisher=Portland State University |date=2010 |doi=10.15760/etd.2806 |doi-access=free}}</ref> and Columbia Villa.<ref>{{cite web |author=Historic American Buildings Survey |author-link=Historic American Buildings Survey |title=Columbia Villa (Columbia Villa Housing Project) |publisher=National Park Service |id=HABS No. OR-188 |url=http://lcweb2.loc.gov/master/pnp/habshaer/or/or0500/or0551/data/or0551data.pdf}}</ref> Vanport, the largest wartime housing development, was constructed independently by the Kaiser Company, although management of the development was later taken over by HAP.<ref>{{cite book |last=Maben |first=Manly |title=Vanport |location=Portland |publisher=Oregon Historical Society Press |date=1987 |isbn=0-87595-118-X}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |title=Vanport Housing Project |website=VanportPlaces.org |url=https://vanportplaces.org/learn-more/vanport-housing-project/ |access-date=2023-03-13 |language=en-US}}</ref> By 1942, HAP developments housed approximately 72,000 people, making it the largest housing authority in the United States.{{r|March 2010|p=11}}
HAP began using the name "Home Forward" in May 2011.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.homeforward.org/get-informed/current-news/new-name-identity-housing-authority-portland |title=New Name, Identity for Housing Authority of Portland |publisher=Home Forward |date=May 18, 2011 |access-date=June 19, 2019 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130924144017/http://www.homeforward.org/get-informed/current-news/new-name-identity-housing-authority-portland |archive-date=September 24, 2013}}</ref>
In March 2026, ''Willamette Week'' reported that Home Forward officials reported "high vacancy rates, tenants' nonpayment of rent and cash flow woes" to their board, and that tenants complained of "drug dealing inside building walls and unfettered access".<ref>{{Cite web |date=2026-03-26 |title=Home Forward Officials Brief Board on Agency’s Struggles |url=https://www.wweek.com/news/city/2026/03/25/home-forward-officials-brief-board-on-agencys-struggles/ |access-date=2026-04-17 |website=Willamette Week |language=en}}</ref> Also in March, the Oregon Bureau of Labor and Industries (BOLI) investigated Home Forward after it received a discrimination complaint alleging that agency refused to provide reasonable accommodation by refusing to provide an in-person meeting with a client. BOLI found "substantial evidence of an unlawful housing practice on the basis of disability" by Home Forward.<ref>{{Cite web |last=Thomas |first=Adrian |date=2026-04-21 |title=State: Evidence of disability discrimination in Home Forward, Multnomah County programs |url=https://www.kptv.com/2026/04/21/state-evidence-disability-discrimination-home-forward-multnomah-county-programs/ |access-date=2026-04-23 |publisher=KPTV |language=en}}</ref>
Home Forward's CEO, Ivory Mathews, resigned in April 2026.<ref>{{Cite web |date=2026-05-07 |title=Willamette Week: What's next for Home Forward now that CEO has resigned? |url=https://katu.com/news/local/willamette-week-whats-next-for-home-forward-now-that-ceo-has-resigned |access-date=2026-05-07 |publisher=KATU |language=en}}</ref> In April 2026, it was reported that from 2023 to 2025, Mathews spent more than $100,000 of public funds on travel to conferences and networking events.<ref>{{Cite web |date=2026-04-15 |title=While Home Forward Struggled, Its CEO Spent More Than $100,000 on Taxpayer-Funded Travel Over Three Years |url=https://www.wweek.com/news/2026/04/14/while-home-forward-struggled-its-ceo-spent-more-than-100000-on-taxpayer-funded-travel-over-three-years/ |access-date=2026-04-17 |website=Willamette Week |language=en}}</ref><ref name=":0">{{Cite web |date=2026-04-15 |title=Home Forward CEO Spent Six Days in Hawaii Because the Agency Created an Insurance Company There |url=https://www.wweek.com/news/city/2026/04/15/home-forward-ceo-spent-six-days-in-hawaii-because-the-agency-created-an-insurance-company-there/ |access-date=2026-04-17 |website=Willamette Week |language=en}}</ref> On an October 2024 trip to Hawaii, she brought along several family members; Home Forward paid $7,269 for the trip.<ref name=":0" />
==See also== * Louisa Flowers, the namesake of a housing development by Home Forward
==References== {{reflist}}
==Further reading== {{refbegin}} * {{cite book |last=Sanders |first=Richard |title=Glimpses from the Past: The Housing Authority of Portland—Fifty Years of Building a Better Community |location=Portland, Oregon |publisher=Housing Authority of Portland |date=1991 |oclc=28909133}} {{refend}}
==External links== {{Portal|Oregon|Housing}} * {{Official website|https://www.homeforward.org/}}
{{USpublichousing}} {{Authority control}}
Category:1941 establishments in Oregon Category:Government agencies established in 1941 Category:Government of Portland, Oregon Category:Housing in Oregon Category:Housing organizations in the United States Category:Public housing in the United States