Join Us!
The Homeless Services Department (HSD) actively seeks community members who want to serve on our five advisory committees and boards:
This committee provides guidance and recommendations to address racial disparities in HSD’s efforts to end homelessness.
The LEAC uplifts the voices of people who are or have been unhoused, ensuring that HSD’s work centers their experiences.
This board oversees and advises on implementing priorities and policies related to the Multnomah County Continuum of Care (CoC).
SHSAC advises Multnomah County on adhering to the Metro SHS Measure, the County’s Local Implementation Plan and future regional plans.
Reviews and makes recommendations on county departmental budgets and operations.
Note: CBAC recruitment is managed by the County’s Office of Community Involvement (OCI). To learn more about joining a CBAC, please visit OCI’s CBAC webpage.
With that, let’s explore how you can join the Equity Advisory Committee, Lived Experience Advisory Committee, CoC Board and SHS Advisory Committee!
The HSD is launching an open application process to provide our community with opportunities to express interest in serving on an advisory committee or board throughout the year.
Let us know you’re interested in serving on a committee or board, by filling out this Advisory Interest Form. This form collects your contact information, some demographic details and your committee and board preferences.
We understand that the Advisory Interest Form requests deeply personal information. Additionally, we collect this data to meet our funder’s requirements and ensure our committees reflect the broader community. Despite that, we never share names or personal identifiers that may tie this information directly to you. More so, you can choose to opt-out of sharing any of the following information by selecting “Prefer not to answer.”
If you want to share this information, but feel uncomfortable doing so in this form, you can call Malka Geffen at 971-442-0167.
This means that anyone can tell us at any time that you’re interested in being on one of our committees or boards. We’ll hold on to your name and contact information and reach back out when there are open positions.
Yes! Our staff can provide alternative ways to apply.
Please contact HSD staff at 971-284-0359 or hsdcommunityadvisory@multco.us.
Everyone is eligible to apply to an advisory committee and board with each having a different composition. That said, we’ll be looking for a range of personal, professional and/or volunteer experiences and expertise. Furthermore, we value participation from people with personal experience of homelessness and/or receiving services and people who are from communities overrepresented in our county’s homeless population. This includes but is not limited to:
Advisory committee and board members are eligible to receive a stipend for participating in committee and board meetings.
We are implementing a three-stage application process.
You’ll fill out the Advisory Interest Form so we have your contact information, demographics and committee or board preferences. Once there is a committee or board opening, we will contact everyone who expressed interest.
Next, you’ll be required to complete a different Google Form Application that collects information about your personal, professional and/or volunteer experiences in our community. This helps us identify applicants who meet the specific needs of our committee or board. For example, this may include representation from service providers, education representatives, people with lived experienced of homelessness, advocates, and so on. Furthermore, this ensures that we select applicants who fulfill our requirements.
Lastly, we will interview applicants who meet the committee or board’s recruiting needs. As such, these interviews allow us to assess the applicant’s understanding of homelessness, their experience supporting equity and inclusion, and their ability to work effectively in a group. We will then select the top candidates to offer the available board or committee seat(s).
This process will repeat whenever there is an opening on our committees and boards.
Our department will reach out to applicants when openings for their preferred committees and boards are available. Though we can’t predict when positions will be open, we will reach out every two to four months for re-verification.
Re-verification includes confirming your contact information and continued interest in serving on an HSD committee or board. In turh, this will also serve as an opportunity to share relevant information and resources about our work in the community.
Currently, meetings are hosted in the following formats:
Please contact HSD staff at 971-284-0359 or hsdcommunityadvisory@multco.us with other questions about our advisory committees and boards.
