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Multnomah County said it won’t renew its remaining contracts with the Rockwood Community Development Corporation, severing all of its ties with the homeless service provider amid a fight over its accounting practices.
Six weeks ago, the county said it planned to remove homeless families from Rockwood CDC’s Gresham shelter and halt payments for their room and board. Rockwood had sought reimbursement for unapproved expenses, double-counted costs, and charged for rooms that were closed for repairs, Multnomah County said.
Rockwood CDC founder Brad Ketch, a former technology executive, disputed the accusations and said that it was Rockwood that stopped accepting homeless families because the county owed it $1.1 million in overdue payments.
On Tuesday, the county said it wouldn’t renew two contracts with Rockwood CDC with a total annual value of $1.3 million.
About half that amount comes from a program called Housing Multnomah Now, which funnels rent-assistance money to homeless people through nonprofit organizations. The other half is money from the Frequent Users System Engagement, or FUSE, program, which seeks to house people who interact often with homeless services, the criminal justice system, and health care providers.
“On July 28, we communicated to Rockwood CDC that we will not be renewing the remainder of their contracts for FY 2026,” the county said in a statement. “All participants in housing through their county-funded programs will be transitioned to other providers for rent assistance and support.”
The decision to halt all programs with Rockwood CDC comes a week after WW reported that a former board chair at Rockwood CDC had resigned after complaining that she couldn’t get financial statements from Ketch, and that the nonprofit struggled to pay rent on a building owned by the Gresham Redevelopment Commission.
Rockwood CDC spokeswoman Savannah Careno didn’t immediately return messages seeking comment.
The county says it is “working to verify” Rockwood CDC figures showing that it is serving about 70 people through Housing Multnomah Now and FUSE.
