With the end of state and local eviction protections and the rapid rise in inflation, more people in the Portland metro area are teetering on the edge of homelessness. One of the ways to help keep people housed is to prevent them from losing their homes in the first place.

From the outside, it looks like Madison McGee and her three teenagers have it all together. Her kids wear nice clothes and brand name shoes, like Nikes. She shuttles them to and from basketball practice in a 2016 Dodge Caravan. And McGee has what she calls a good-paying, full-time job as a facilities administrator at Adidas.

But a medical emergency last October was all it took for McGee and her family to come close to being homeless.

“The doctors said I had an infection throughout my body,” said McGee, who sought medical care after suffering from severe chest pains. “I stayed in the hospital for seven days.”

McGee’s recovery from a sepsis diagnosis was rocky. She went back and forth from the hospital that month for dehydration, infection flare-ups and a fall that injured her legs. McGee, 36, is also a single mother and the sole provider for her three teenagers. So even just a few days of unpaid time off makes it difficult for her to pay the bills.

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