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2008 AUGUST |
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Habitat for Humanity in Washington:
36 local success stories, one overarching belief in making
decent, affordable housing available for all
I have wanted to feature our Washington State Habitat for
Humanity affiliates in My View for some time. They work
mightily to implement a highly complex but very successful
homeownership model that serves very low-income families. All
told, they’ve helped to build more than 1,000 affordable homes.
Each affiliate has their own story, and I’ll highlight four
affiliates in this issue to demonstrate their innovative efforts
to build affordable homes across the state. I’ve also
interviewed Maureen Howard, the executive director of their
statewide organization, Habitat for Humanity of Washington State
(HFHWA), which provides resource development, technical
assistance, training, and an advocacy voice for the local
affiliates. It’s a good story, I hope you enjoy it!
2008 JUNE |
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Celebrating the achievements of our
Puget Sound HOPE VI
communities
This issue of My View is a history and a celebration of
the six HOPE VI redevelopments in the Puget Sound region. To
date, just one project, Seattle Housing Authority’s (SHA)
Westwood Heights, has completed construction. But all six
redevelopments are in the process of building thriving
communities and positively transforming their surrounding
neighborhoods.
We’ll take an in-depth look at the groundbreaking history of
SHA’s NewHolly. That story will be told from the perspective of
several leaders, including Doris Koo, Doris Morgan, former
Seattle Mayor Norm Rice, and current SHA Executive Director Tom
Tierney. Next, we’ll take a close look at Tacoma Housing
Authority’s (THA) Salishan development and King County Housing
Authority’s (KCHA) Greenbridge community. Finally, we’ll survey
the remaining current projects and briefly look ahead to
proposed new developments that are taking shape today.
2008 APRIL |
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Foreclosures on homes in Washington State:
What the current
landscape looks like—and what’s being done to educate
and safeguard homeowners
In this issue, I review the work of the Governor’s Task Force
on Homeowner Security and present the perspectives of two of my
fellow Task Force members who are legal and finance experts,
Fred Corbit and Scott Jarvis. I’ve also interviewed four
homeownership counselors from across the state to hear what’s
happening in their communities. You’ll hear their stories about
real homeowners who have been caught up in our country’s
unfolding financial crisis. And, as a result of action by the
Governor and Legislature, you will learn about some very
important new homeowner protections that are now the legal right
of every Washington resident.
2008 FEBRUARY |
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The Commitment Continues:
Washington State’s Efforts to End Homelessness
This month, the National Alliance to End Homelessness is holding
its annual conference here in Seattle. To honor their efforts, I
am dedicating this issue of My View to our efforts to end
homelessness by presenting a layered portrait of what we have
accomplished thus far towards our 10-Year Goal to end
homelessness in Washington State.
2007 DECEMBER |
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Coming to Consensus:
The 2008
Joint Agenda
on Housing and Homelessness
In this issue of My View I review the 2008 Joint
Agenda on Housing and Homelessness through the eyes of three
housing advocates and the Vice-Chair of the House Housing
Committee. I wanted to review the agenda because the low and
moderate income citizens of Washington still face several
escalating challenges to secure a decent, affordable home,
whether they want to buy or rent. These challenges - and a
desire to change the paradigm in the Legislature around
affordable housing - led advocates to develop the 2008 Joint
Agenda. By presenting this discussion, I hope to promote a
productive conversation in the upcoming legislative session.
2007 OCTOBER |
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Condo conversions in Seattle and commercial demands in
Spokane cause major tenant displacements — What needs to be
fixed?
Permits allowing 2,300 rental units to be converted to
condominiums (condos) were filed in Seattle in 2006, displacing
many low-income renters. Stories hit the newspapers about
elderly and low-income tenants being forced to find replacement
housing on short notice after learning their apartments would
become condos they could not afford.
Across the state in Spokane, commercial redevelopment has pushed
almost 200 low-income and special needs persons out of the
downtown core, away from needed social services and the
transportation hub.
This surge of displacements on both sides of the state, and a
legislative hearing to find out what needs to be fixed, made it
worth a more in-depth look at displacement problems in this
issue of My View.
2007 AUGUST |
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Workforce Housing in the Columbia Gorge National Scenic Area
A tale of local leaders crossing political boundaries in two
states and several counties to solve the region’s workforce
housing challenges. In April, I participated in the Mid-Columbia Workforce Housing
Summit, held in Hood River, Oregon. I was so impressed with what
I observed at the Summit that I wanted to share the perspectives
and efforts of some of the participants and organizers with
readers of My View. Their workforce housing challenges seem to
be a microcosm of the workforce housing challenges facing the
larger Puget Sound region. Their regional approach to finding
solutions is a lesson many larger regions might want to follow.
2007 JUNE |
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Preserving Our Manufactured Housing
Communities
Manufactured
housing communities—known by many as mobile home parks—are one
of the largest sources of unsubsidized affordable housing in
Washington State. Manufactured homes provide affordable housing
for about 500,000 people, or approximately 8% of our residents,
many of them elderly. But this great affordable housing choice
has become a crisis in our state. Communities are closing at an
alarming rate—particularly in areas where the squeeze is on in
terms of available land for commercial development.
2007 APRIL |
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AHAB pursues affordable housing
As a leadership transition unfolds at the Affordable Housing
Advisory Board (AHAB), I thought it would be a good idea to talk
with the outgoing chair, Hugh Spitzer, to get an inside
perspective on a variety of issues, including the
Report of the Growth Management/Housing Task Force, which
AHAB released at the end of last year. I last interviewed Hugh
in December 2004, for the second
issue of My View. At that time, we discussed AHAB’s just
released Advisory Plan 2005-2010. Now, more than two years
later, Heyward Watson has been appointed by the Governor to
chair AHAB and I wanted to get Heyward’s perspective on AHAB’s
future. I also spoke with several other AHAB board members to
get their perspectives as well.
2007 FEBRUARY |
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Washington Community Reinvestment
Association: 15 years of banks banding together for the greater good
In February 1992—fifteen years ago this month—the Washington
Community Reinvestment Association (WCRA) opened its doors with 37
financial institution members, a $75 million loan pool, and a
mission to finance affordable multifamily rental housing in our
state. The story of WCRA’s inspiration, genesis, and accomplishments
is a story of a great idea that garnered enough support along the
way—from a community development think tank and the Federal Reserve
Bank in San Francisco to forward-thinking bankers and government
officials —to build a constituency of highly supportive partners who
all “got it” and worked hard to see it through to fruition.
2006 DECEMBER |
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Housing Development Consortiums: Tremendous strides, forward
thinkers
Housing development consortiums are basically local industry
associations for affordable housing developers and their
partners. Any organization or business committed to advancing
the interests of affordable housing in the consortium’s region
of interest can be a member. These often include nonprofit
organizations, municipalities, lenders, for-profit housing
developers, legal and accounting professionals, and other
suppliers. There are several reasons why I chose to focus on
housing development consortiums in this issue of My View.
2006 OCTOBER |
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The USDA’s
rural self-help housing program: Unsung, under pressure—but highly
effective
The USDA rural self-help housing program is one of affordable
housing’s least-known success stories. Since the early 1970s,
close to three thousand mutual self-help homes have been built
in Washington State with the financial support of the U.S.
Department of Agriculture (USDA) by families participating in
self-help housing programs. Today, this seasoned forerunner to
volunteer self-help programs like Habit for Humanity quietly
continues to counsel homebuyers, subsidize loans, and
consistently produce homes in rural Washington.
2006 AUGUST |
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The Washington Families Fund:
Spawning partnerships that are helping homeless families
The Washington Families Fund (WFF) is an incredible success story.
Established by the Washington State Legislature in 2004, WFF is a
critical financial commitment by the state dedicated to helping
homeless families get the services they need to break the cycle
of homelessness. In just two short years we have seen funding
that has grown from $2 to $9 million, creating a phenomenal
partnership between the public sector and private philanthropic
organizations. We have also seen the extremely successful launch
of the Fund’s third-party grant-making, administration and
technical assistance functions through the capable hands of AIDS
Housing of Washington. To get WFF off the ground so
quickly was extraordinary.
2006 JUNE |
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The struggle to end
homelessness in Washington State
How do you go about ending homelessness? For the past two decades, countless individuals and organizations
across the U.S. have been committed to this effort. Billions of
dollars have been spent, and millions of homeless people have been
helped to secure stable long-term housing. Yet despite all these
efforts, homelessness is still with us. Every day, about
three-quarters of a million people in the U.S.—and approximately
25,000 people in our state—are homeless.
The good news is that right now a profound shift is taking place in
Washington State as a result of the passage of the Homeless Housing
and Assistance Act (HB 2163) during the 2005 legislative session.
2006 APRIL |
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Community land trusts come of age
The focus of this issue of
My View is on Community Land Trusts (CLTs) because there are
now 10 CLTs in the state of Washington, in cities, towns and rural
communities. Not surprisingly, all of our CLTs are based in areas
that have seen stupendous growth, both in terms of population and in
the skyrocketing of median home prices. What are community land trusts? One frequent
misconception is that they’re involved with preserving land from
development. In fact, CLTs are affordable housing-focused
organizations. They’re set up to help homebuyers secure affordable
homes and achieve an equity return on their investment, while
preserving affordability for the next homebuyer.
2006 FEBRUARY |
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Is there a housing bubble? Nine
experts analyze today's real estate market
As we begin 2006, the housing market appears to have cooled to some
extent. But questions about the real estate bubble still linger.
I’ve asked an array of experts—realtors, economists, mortgage
bankers, real estate researchers, and institutional real estate
investors—whether they think there’s a bubble in the first place
and, if so, is it in danger of popping. The answers I’ve received
help to address the question: For a potential homeowner here in the
Northwest, right now, Is
this the best time to buy a home? Or, for a current homeowner,
Is this the best time to sell?
2005 DECEMBER
The Washington State Housing Trust
Fund: It mattered then, it matters now
For this issue of
My View, I wanted to write the “inside” history of the
state’s Housing Trust Fund (HTF). I thought it would be both
interesting and fun to remind everyone associated with the Trust
Fund just how it came into being, how small it started and how a
dedicated group of people can make a difference. The HTF has
now reached two milestones: $100 million, a goal set about 12 years
ago by the Low Income Housing Congress (now the Low Income Housing
Alliance); and, its twentieth anniversary, which will be celebrated
in 2006.
2005 OCTOBER |
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Spotlight on Community Action Agencies,
The War on Poverty: Where do we stand today?
Opportunity Council,
Bellingham: Find out how Kay Sardo got her
Head Start in the 60s | El Centro de la Raza, Seattle:
For 33 years, Roberto Maestas has led El
Centro’s efforts to build a stronger community for its
participants |
Blue Mountain, Walla Walla
Steven Moss and his staff reach across
traditional boundaries to get things accomplished in
Southeastern Washington
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OIC of Washington, Yakima
Henry Beauchamp will do whatever it takes, including “swimming with
the sharks,” to keep programs operating.
2005 AUGUST |
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Focus on Changes to Section 8 Housing
Choice Vouchers
Spokane Housing Authority:
Forced to
cut programs, payments—and waitlisted families
| Walla Walla Housing Authority:
Housing uncertainty in rural
Walla Walla
| King County Housing Authority’s
The long-term costs of Section 8 Housing Choice Voucher cuts: Stephen Norman speaks out
| “The hits are hard”:
What the recent
changes to Section 8 have meant to Laura MacKenzie and Fenesa Santos
| John Meyers, HUD
Regional Director
Defends
rationale for changes
2005 JUNE
Focus on Farmworker Housing
The Office of Rural and Farmworker Housing:
26 years, nearly 1,000
homes—and much more on the horizon
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Mario Villanueva and the Diocese of Yakima Housing Services:
Building homes, cultivating self-advocacy for farmworkers and
educating communities
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The Growers League:
Key participant in
efforts to create housing
for farmworkers
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The New Washington State Farmworker Housing Trust:
Brings together
growers, farmworkers and advocates to address long-term housing
needs
2005 APRIL
2005 FEBRUARY
2004 DECEMBER
2004 OCTOBER
NEWSLETTER ARCHIVE
About Us
The Washington State Housing Finance Commission is a self-supporting
agency that provides below-market financing to buy, build or
preserve affordable housing and nonprofit capital facilities. The
Commission builds partnerships with the private sector to raise
capital needed to further these social and economic objectives at no
cost to the taxpayers of Washington State. For more
information about the Commission and its work, visit
www.wshfc.org or call
206-464-7139 or 1-800-767-HOME (4663) toll free in Washington State.
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