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Oregon Housing and Community Services

ORCA Pipeline, Resources, and Set-Asides

Current ORCA Pipeline

Stay up to date on the status of the ORCA applications submitted:

This information is updated monthly after each Housing Stability Council (HSC) meeting. 

Projects are recommended to HSC for the amount requested in their Impact Assessment application. 

Learn more about the ORCA waitlist policy


ORCA Available Resources

ORCA accepts applications on a rolling basis as funding is available. During the application review process, OHCS staff assists applicants with determining the best fit for funding sources given eligibility requirements and resource availability.  

Please keep the following in mind when considering funding offerings:

  • These funds are available through the Oregon Centralized Application process.
  • There are set-aside funds for culturally specific organizations and nonprofit developers in rural areas and based on geography.  Learn more about set-aside funds below.

Currently Available Development Resources


ORCA Set-Aside Funding

The Oregon Centralized Application (ORCA) development funding makes up the total funding available through the ORCA process. Of this funding, OHCS has reserved or “set-aside" funding for specific organizations and geographic regions to relieve the housing burden of historically underserved populations and ensure investment in communities across Oregon.

Geographic set-aside funding aligns with the Oregon Housing Needs Analysis and housing cost burden of Black, Indigenous, and People of Color communities across the state.

25% of total funding available is set-aside for the following organizations for 2024-25:

  • Culturally specific organizations (CSO)
  • Nonprofit development in rural communities

75% of total funding available will distributed geographically for 2024-25. Geographic set-asides are:

  • Eastern: 15%
  • Metro : 40% (Multnomah, Clackamas, Washington counties)
  • Western: 45% (This region is fully subscribed, see below for details)

Set-Aside Regions


Definitions

Culturally specific organization

OHCS defines culturally specific organization as an entity that provides services to a cultural community and the entity has the following characteristics:

  • Majority of members and/or clients must be from a particular cultural community that has faced housing discrimination;
  • Organizational environment is culturally focused, and the cultural community being served recognizes it as a culturally-specific entity that provides culturally and linguistically responsive services;
  • Majority of staff must be from the cultural community being served, and the majority of the leadership (defined to collectively include board members and management positions) must be from the cultural community being served;
  • The entity has a track record of successful community engagement and involvement with the cultural community being served, rooted on a foundation of respect and trust; and
  • The organization engages in advocacy for housing and/or economic justice for the cultural community with their guidance.

OHCS acknowledges many organizations are culturally responsive organizations, highly valued in the community for inclusive practices and meeting the needs of its communities and cultures. This does not necessarily meet the criteria of a culturally specific organization.


Nonprofit development in rural communities

OHCS defines rural or urban status in two parts. OHCS evaluates housing density by census tract and uses the National Center for Health Statistics County (NCHS) Schema to better understand the economic and community context surrounding a given tract. You can use the following map to determine whether a property location is designated as rural or urban OHCS Rural or Urban Status Map.