The Office of the Governor of the State of Oregon
06/19/2026 | Press release | Archived content
6/19/2026: Interfaith Clergy Breakfast Remarks
Interfaith Clergy Breakfast Remarks
June 19, 2026
Good morning, everyone.
It is wonderful to be back at this breakfast. Thank you to the Coalition of African and African American Pastors and Imams and to the Bridge-Pamoja community for bringing us together - and for your steadfast leadership and your unwavering faith in the promise of a better and more just Oregon.
This breakfast, rooted in faith and fellowship, represents a community of leaders reimagining what health, wholeness, and justice can look like when it begins with, and is led by, the people most impacted by inequities. Our greatest chance at healing will come through communities that know what it is to survive, to persist, and to rise.
Oregon, and our country, cannot heal and truly prosper without ensuring Black Americans have affordable housing, safe neighborhoods, good schools, dignified employment, culturally specific health care, and a criminal justice system rooted in accountability and fairness.
Let me share briefly with you how we're acting.
First, on housing and homelessness: We know that Black Oregonians experience disproportionate rates of housing instability. That's part of why the progress we're making is so important. More than 17,000 affordable housing units have been built or will be built by end of next year because of my administration's policies. 25,000 Oregonians have been helped to stay housed and prevent homelessness. More than 6,000 shelter beds were supported through my homelessness emergency response.
We're also making progress on behavioral health. 1,067 new residential treatment beds have opened, with 593 more scheduled to open within the next two and a half years. This is more than a 45% increase in our continuum of care.
I know this room understands the importance of education. We have preserved or created more than 6,700 more slots for families needing childcare across the state because the state invested $50 million to childcare providers who renovated or updated their facilities to serve Oregon families. In 2025, we served more than 29,000 students in State Summer Learning programs in 2025 and estimate to serve more than 32,000 students each year through 2028. Oregon graduation rates are now above pre-pandemic levels, and I've enacted a statewide policy to ban cell phone use by students bell to bell so that they are more engaged in the classroom.
We have a lot more work to do - don't get me wrong. But I am encouraged by the progress we've made together.
You know the work isn't easy. But the path toward equity is not paved in silence or comfort. It is paved in partnership and in truth-telling.
I'm committed to a government that listens to Black leaders, not just when the cameras are rolling, but when the decisions are being made. That's why my administration is making an intentional effort to meet regularly with faith leaders, community organizers, and youth who are shaping a stronger Oregon from the ground up.
Faith's most important companion is action. You've been showing up and doing the work in community - feeding the hungry, sheltering the unhoused, guiding the young, and holding power to account.
I'm committed to doing the work alongside you.
In closing, I ask for your continued partnership and your prayers - and your continued accountability. Hold me to the promises I make. Because our shared future depends on it.
In my career in elected office, I have benefitted from leaning into my personal religious faith. To sit quietly away from the worldly noise whenever I can, to center myself in what it means to be human and live on this beautiful planet and to love my neighbor as myself. This has helped me choose hope and choose love when things in the news could push me in another direction.
Together, we can build an Oregon where health is a birthright, not a battle. Where justice is not an aspiration, but an expectation. And where every Black child and young person knows they are safe, seen, and supported.
Thank you, may God bless you, and may we go forward in faith and action together.
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