Read a complete transcript of our City Club liveblog.

When most people think of the homeless, an image of a single man living under a bridge may come most easily to mind. But a growing group of families who become homeless through job loss, a medical crisis, divorce or crippling debt are the growing n and less visible n victims of homelessness.

"What we work with is the 'hidden homeless,' " said Dina Eldridge, emergency-services coordinator for the Community Services Consortium. She added that they "can be any age: a teenager kicked out of their home, seniors, two-parent and single-parent families. -. Something's happened to them that they can't afford to pay a mortgage."

Eldridge was joined by Amy-Rose Simpson, an Americorps volunteer at the consortium, and Carolyn Hinds, family-outreach advocate for the Corvallis School District, at a meeting of the Corvallis City Club on Monday.

Eldridge said many people falsely believe a government safety net awaits families in need. Reality is far less reassuring. Even when an agency has available emergency funds, its strict eligibility requirements can leave many families out in the cold.

In 2007, for example, Community Services Consortium provided transitional housing and emergency assistance for 135 households in Benton, Linn and Lincoln counties. But more than 6,000 people who applied for housing assistance alone were turned away because they didn't meet guidelines or funds simply weren't available.

"I have the unfortunate duty to explain to them that I don't have funds, which is common, or they don't meet the criteria," Eldridge said. "And they're shocked, since they've been paying their taxes all along."

Even when housing assistance is available, there's no guarantee that families searching for an affordable place to live will find it in Benton County, said Simpson.

Due to pressure from Oregon State University, 36 percent of those seeking affordable rentals are students, which eats up much of the available affordable rental housing. According to federal Housing and Urban Development figures, just 1 percent of Corvallis rentals are considered affordable housing. It's never been a large market, but even that small proportion is in decline. In 1990, 2.5 percent met the criteria.

Simpson said one in three Corvallis households spend 30 percent or more of their income on their housing, a determining factor in whether housing is considered affordable.

Hinds said that kind of stress leads to trouble for everyone in the family, especially children.

"So much starts with housing, it's sometimes hard to understand how important that stabilization is," she said. "Kids can't focus if they don't know if they're going to be in the shelter or not."

The panel agreed that a fresh infusion of money would go far in addressing the issue of homeless families, but those dollars should be spent wisely in long-term investments like temporary housing projects rather than today's market-price voucher programs.

City Club is a local group that meets monthly to bring a broad range of people together to talk about issues and ideas within the community.

Matt Neznanski can be reached at 758-9518 or matt.neznanski@lee.net