UMATILLA COUNTY — Community Counseling Solutions is completing the process of buying residential properties across Umatilla and Morrow Counties to provide housing for individuals undergoing behavioral health treatment.

The nonprofit that contracts with Umatilla County to provide mental health and addiction treatment services is purchasing two properties in Hermiston, one in Milton-Freewater and most recently, in Pendleton.

“Last spring, the Legislature met and discussed the housing issues, not just in Oregon, but everywhere,” CCS Executive Director Kimberly Lindsay said. “There’s not enough housing, and it further complicates life for those struggling with behavioral health issues. The lack of housing increases the likelihood that people struggling with these issues end up homeless.”

As a result, Lindsay explained, legislators set aside a $100 million investment into behavioral health housing and residential treatment capacity.

“That money went to community mental health programs across the state for them to use on housing for the behavioral health population,” she said. “You had to write up a plan to get access to the funds, which allowed us to look at the needs of our community, and what the community would allow before we applied.”

Each county that applied to receive funds from the legislative investment received a certain amount of money based upon a formula that includes population, poverty and homelessness rates.

CCS received around $3.5 million from the state investiture, Lindsay said, and has begun searching for and acquiring properties, starting in Hermiston with two apartment buildings, and in Milton-Freewater with a duplex.

“We had to move fast and use these funds to keep the number of beds we had for treatment,” she said. “We had a few people retire that were providing housing, so these new locations came just in time, but it’s only kept us at our previous amount of beds.”

Of the initial $3.5 million received from the state, Lindsay estimated CCS had to spend $2 million on acquiring the Hermiston and Milton-Freewater properties after paying for updates, upkeep and reparations.

“We had about one-and-a-half million dollars left after the Hermiston and Milton-Freewater properties, which brought us back to our normal bed capacity,” she said. “We needed to get something in Pendleton with what we had left, and we learned of an apartment complex that was available.”

The complex at 1515 S.E. Court Place has a large house with multiple apartments, a trailer and a smaller single house in the back. Though not sure about the final capacity, Lindsay said those moving in while receiving behavioral health treatment will have their own monitored space.

Those admitted into the housing program have 12 months to seek treatment and assistance while living rent-free, Lindsay said, with a potential for a three-month extension under special circumstances.

“They don’t have to be enrolled with CCS, but somehow we need to know that there’s a behavioral health issue, and they need to be on a path to beginning to pay for their own rent,” she said.

John Shafer, Umatilla County commissioner and CCS board member, said that this kind of housing program was crucial for helping those seeking help to get on a path to getting better.

“Getting anyone from the street that’s homeless into some sort of housing, it’s going to be better for the person,” he said. “Not only are they protected from the elements, but it provides a safe place to lay their head at night. Once they’re on the path to getting better, they become less of a concern from a public safety point of view, and we can help them make strides to eventually move out on their own.”