COVID-19 Economic Relief and Recovery Response
Following Mayor Ted Wheeler’s declaration of emergency on March 12, 2020, the City of Portland formed a COVID-19 Economic Relief and Stabilization Framework and identified teams to guide the city’s response to the economic impact of the pandemic through recommendations and collaboration.
The Framework prioritized the most vulnerable populations, applying a racial equity lens, and focused on quick action and leverage of existing networks to mitigate economic hardship, help local businesses stay solvent, and redirect available resources.
Led by an action committee of city leaders and organizational partners, the Economic Recovery Task Force and its ancillary work groups spent nearly two years building a response to the public health and economic crisis, from addressing the digital divide and reducing commercial evictions to evaluating city practices and supporting displaced workers ineligible for unemployment insurance. Task Force members applied an equity and vulnerability lens, ensured implementation of an Interim Economic Stabilization Framework, advised on the disbursement of CARES funding, informed the City’s American Rescue Plan allocation, gave feedback on how to center the most impacted in decision making, and elevated local small businesses during a challenging time.
Building on that work, the City of Portland has convened five “action tables” to respond to Portland’s challenges. The people who join these tables will work together to identify and implement strategic solutions. The City is particularly interested in ensuring people and organizations who are too often unheard or underserved have a place at the action tables, which are being built on a foundation of diversity, equity, and inclusion.