Pivotal player in fight against houselessness takes leave; LaPoint impact immense in past 4 years

Jan 24

Written By Columbia Community Connection

**File Photo - Kenny LaPoint, Rob Mendoza, and Miriam Starett are all smiles after a successful move in day at The Annex - the former Oregon Motor Motel in September 2023 Photo Credit: Cole Goodwin**

From MCCAC Board Chair Joan Bird with additions by Tom Peterson and previous reporting by Cole Goodwin

The Dalles, Ore., Jan. 24, 2025 — After four years serving at the helm of Mid-Columbia Community Action Council (MCCAC), Kenny LaPoint announced his intention to resign as the organization’s Executive Director on Jan. 21.

2021 - Kenny LaPoint, MCCACC Executive Director and Rob Mendoza, Shelter Manager showing CCC News the newly installed shower trailer at the pallet shelters when they were located on Bargeway Road in The Dalles. LaPoint was instrumental in bringing basic services such as proper bathrooms and showers for those who are houseless. Mendoza and Others on the MCCAC Team and Former TD City Councilor Darcy Long spent many a night watching over this shelter enforcing rules and ensuring safety and even fixing the showers when the froze in the dead of winter.

Deputy Director Kelli Horvath, who has served in several leadership roles at MCCAC since 2021, will continue to guide the agency until an interim Executive Director is appointed by MCCAC’s Board of Directors.

**File Photo from January 2023 - Kelli Hovrath, Director of the Office of Housing Stabilization with a trunk full of street outreach supplies. Photo Credit: MCCAC**

LaPoint has been a pivotal player in leveraging the local program through astute use of state resources and careful negotiations with local leaders in the often politically-charged atmosphere of how and where to provide housing for those who become houseless. His efforts to energize the MCCAC team and greatly expand the program has touched many - Tom Peterson.

“Given the strong leadership team and organizational infrastructure Kenny built these past few years, the agency is well-positioned to maintain stability and continuity of operations during this transition,” said Joan Bird, Sherman County Commissioner and Board Chair of MCCAC. “MCCAC has tackled countless challenges during Kenny’s tenure as Executive Director. Now, he’s passing the torch on to a team that is incredibly well-prepared to continue offering critical shelter, housing, utilities, and weatherization programs to our community.”

**MCCAC Executive Director Kenny LaPoint at MCCAC’s new offices at the newly constructed Gloria Center on March 7, 2024. Photo: Cole Goodwin**

LaPoint was hired in 2020 at the height of the coronavirus pandemic after leaving his post as Public Affairs Director at Oregon Housing and Community Services. In his resignation letter to MCCAC’s board and staff, he reflected on the agency’s impact on the community.

**The Gloria Center, 2505 W. 7th St., The Dalles was part of LaPoint’s quintessential plan as MCCAC worked to bring services for the houseless under one roof.**

“The MCCAC team has grown from just eight people in November 2020 to nearly 40 today,” LaPoint said. “We transformed the once-dilapidated Oregon Motor Motel into The Annex—a vibrant community asset serving an average of 70 people daily with shelter, food, and services. We built the beautiful Gloria Center, a collaborative, multi-agency service hub designed to foster relationships and streamline access to vital services. We have also taken up the baton from Hood River Shelter Services, becoming the shelter operator in Hood River. Today, MCCAC is stronger and more equipped to serve the community than at any other time in its nearly 60-year history.”

Jan. 24, 2025 — Through strong leadership and management the Annex has been able to keep the former Oregon Motor Motel looking good on the west end of downtown The Dalles. It has more than 50 separate rooms, including the hard-to-find units for families. **Click here to read about the impact.**

The MCCAC Board of Directors will soon convene to appoint an interim Executive Director and begin searching for a permanent Executive Director.

“The entire board and I are so grateful for Kenny’s visionary leadership, fundraising prowess, and courage as MCCAC’s Executive Director these past few years,” said Wasco County Commissioner and MCCAC Board Secretary Phil Brady. “We will miss him, but we are also excited to keep building on the remarkable energy and momentum he brought to our community. He recruited and trained an incredible team and built a very strong foundation that will serve the people of Hood River, Wasco, and Sherman Counties for years to come.”

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MCCAC is the Community Action Agency serving Hood River, Wasco and Sherman Counties. MCCAC's mission is to build a better future for our community through partnership and equity centered programs that prevent and eliminate poverty and houselessness.