When Home Isn’t Safe: The Link Between Homelessness and Domestic Violence in Oregon
When Home Isn’t Safe: The Link Between Homelessness and Domestic Violence in Oregon Image credit: AI-generated image created using OpenAI’s DALL·E (2026). In the Portland metro region, throughout Columbia County, and across Oregon, homelessness has tragically grown year after year. On a single night in early 2025, more than 27,000 Oregonians were counted as experiencing homelessness , a 35 % increase from just one year prior, and more than 60 % of them were living unsheltered in places not meant for human habitation like streets, vehicles, and campsites. These numbers don’t just represent housing insecurity, they represent families, neighbors, friends, and far too many survivors of violence with no safe place to rebuild their lives. At SAFE of Columbia County, we rarely see homelessness as just a housing issue. For coun...