About Open: Housing

Rising housing cost burdens, rampant homelessness, broad-scale gentrification and displacement. In Portland and throughout Oregon, a housing crisis is upending lives and dismantling communities. How can we get to a future where all people have access to the housing they need to thrive?

In fall 2016, journalists, housing leaders and Portland residents are coming together with a common purpose: to create inclusive, informed public conversations that drive solutions to the Portland region’s housing crisis.

Open:Housing is a platform, a network, and a set of strategies aimed at strengthening the information ecosystem that supports civic engagement around housing issues:

• Common platform: OpenHousing.net, a Medium publication, brings together diverse stories, perspectives and conversations related to the Portland region’s housing crisis.
• Coordinated coverage: Coordinated coverage, tied to principles of engaged journalism, will bring focus and depth to public discussion of key housing topics.
• Community engagement: Face-to-face gatherings and technologies such as GroundSource will give the community new, inclusive avenues for engagement with housing issues.
• Knowledge network: Outreach, technology and training will help housing experts, housing advocates, journalists, researchers and data geeks share access to housing knowledge and data.

You can participate by contributing your perspective at OpenHousing.net, following us on Facebook, signing up for events and workshops, and joining the Open: Housing GroundSource network (text “HELLO” and your answer to the question “What’s your housing crisis?” to 503–451–6179).

For inquiries about openhousing.net, contact Camela Raymond, Open: Housing curator, at camela.raymond_at_gmail.com. For other inquiries about this project, contact Andrew DeVigal, UO-SOJC’s chair in journalism innovation and civic engagement, at adevigal_at_uoregon.edu.

Open: Housing is a project of University of Oregon School of Journalism and Communication’s Agora Journalism Center, the gathering place for innovation in communication and civic engagement, and is funded by The Jackson Foundation. Coordinating partners include Journalism That Matters, Oregon Humanities, Portland State University’s Institute of Portland Metropolitan Studies, and Portland Community Media.

Media partners include KBOO, KGW, KOIN, Oregon Public Broadcasting, Pamplin Media Group, Portland Business Journal, Street Roots and Willamette Week, as well as bloggers who cover housing and social-justice issues, including Mike Andersen of Portland for Everyone and Thacher Schmid, who publishes Poor for a Minute. We’re adding more partners regularly. Please know us know if you’re interested in participating.