Multnomah County highlights Bienestar de la Familia's eviction-prevention, youth and mental-health services

At a Multnomah County Board briefing, county staff presented an overview of Bienestar de la Familia, a county-run, culturally specific community service center that provides eviction prevention, emergency rental assistance, food-security support, youth programming and mental-health and addiction services.

Rachel Pearl, Deputy Director for the Department of County Human Services, opened the presentation by calling the team “truly inspiring,” and introduced Tabitha Jensen, interim director for Youth and Family Services, and Nabil Zagloul, the program manager for Bienestar de la Familia.

Zagloul described the program’s mission and staffing: Bienestar operates with bilingual, bicultural staff and an advisory board formed in 2012 and provides services countywide from its base in the Colly/Colli neighborhood. He told the Board the program combines rapid rental-assistance interventions and longer-term economic-recovery case management intended to reduce repeat requests for help; case managers do ongoing follow-up for three to 12 months to support clients’ financial stability and employment goals.

On funding, Zagloul said the briefing’s figures included $3,300,000 in ongoing dollars that predate the COVID-era funding, an additional $4,200,000 described as ongoing and associated with Oregon’s eviction-prevention/diversion programs, and a one-time $5,600,000 allocation for eviction prevention and emergency rental assistance drawn from SHS and the general fund. He noted the county delayed use of some Oregon funds to conserve ARPA dollars.

The presentation cited program outcomes based on client surveys and internal tracking: up to 80% home-retention among households the program served and survey responses indicating improved financial situations for about 90% of respondents. Zagloul also reported workforce and educational outcomes — clients who returned to Portland Community College, obtained credentials, or gained employment, including some who were later hired by Multnomah County.

Bienestar’s anti-poverty outreach includes the Mercado, which staff said served about 2,000 households in fiscal year 25 and included SNAP outreach (presenters reported 94 SNAP outreach events and 416 households assisted with SNAP applications). The youth program includes robotics, aviation and music offerings run in partnership with Portland Community College, Southeast Works and out-of-jurisdiction partners; presenters noted roughly 100 youth participants of color have completed programming.

A short recorded testimony from Tabitha Turner, a Fairview resident, described receiving emergency resources and rental assistance that prevented eviction and helped keep food on the table for her son.

Board members praised the program’s culturally specific approach and asked follow-up questions about the economic recovery pilot and emergency rental assistance. Chair and commissioners noted continuing resource pressures and said they expect a more detailed emergency rental assistance briefing scheduled for Nov. 5.

The presentation materials and board exchange emphasized partnerships with Portland Community College, community-based organizations and county teams (MITT, PATH) and called out ongoing challenges in finding culturally specific behavioral-health providers and reaching uninsured residents.

The briefing did not include a formal board vote or policy action; commissioners asked that remaining technical and budget details be addressed at the upcoming emergency rental assistance briefing.