Mid Columbia Community Action Council staff told The Dalles City Council on Sept. — that the agency continues to expand shelter, transitional housing and utility-assistance services across Wasco, Hood River and Sherman counties and asked the city to remember that commitment as the council adopted a proclamation naming September 2025 as Hunger Action Month.

Leslie Naramore, executive director of Mid Columbia Community Action Council (MCAC), described the agency’s “continuum of care,” which she said begins for many clients with emergency shelter and can lead to transitional housing at the Annex and ultimately to permanent housing. She said MCAC runs seasonal shelter programs in Hood River, operates the Gloria Center navigation hub in The Dalles and manages the Annex, a converted motel used for transitional housing.

“For many people who come to us through our emergency shelters, the goal is to move them into a permanent housing placement,” Naramore told the council. She noted the agency’s focus on eviction prevention, utility-assistance programs and landlord partnerships, including a renter-education program called RentWell that offers landlord guarantees and incentives.

MCAC provided 2024 impact figures to the council: 769 people supported with utility assistance (chiefly via the Low Income Home Energy Assistance Program, LIHEAP), 280 people helped to prevent eviction and 33 veteran households served through Supportive Services for Veteran Families (SSVF). Naramore said staff numbers had grown from 9 employees a few years ago to 31 now and that many staff have lived experience of poverty or houselessness, which the agency regards as an asset for trust-building.

Naramore and other MCAC staff highlighted the Gloria Center as a “navigation center” where multiple partners provide co‑located services, and described the Annex as a 9-unit transitional housing site with on-site food support from the Columbia Gorge Food Bank and case-management partners such as Center for Living. She said MCAC opened short-term shelter operations at the Gloria Center during the Rowena Fire and at times when the Red Cross shelters were not available; of 26 households affected by that fire, MCAC said it had rehoused 19.

MCAC staff announced regional outreach, including twice-monthly visits to Sherman County senior centers, a Housing Stabilization Summit for service providers and a community screening of the documentary No Place to Grow Old on Nov. 6 at the Granada. Staff also described a lived-experience work group that advises projects and takes part in legislative advocacy.

After the presentation, the council unanimously approved a proclamation declaring September 2025 Hunger Action Month, read by the mayor. Leah Hall, community philanthropy manager at Columbia Gorge Food Bank, said the food bank distributes more than 1.4 million pounds of food annually across Wasco, Hood River and Sherman counties, serves an average 3,770 individuals through 1,530 monthly visits in Wasco County and urged continued policy attention to wages, housing and food-assistance programs.

Councilors asked MCAC staff for additional data on outcomes from the Annex and said they are willing to advocate for federal and state funding changes MCAC flagged as a risk. MCAC offered to follow up with requested placement numbers and invited councilors to tour the Gloria Center and Annex.