Common Ground partners win crucial state funding for affordable housing
We celebrate moving forward on building more affordable housing!
On Wednesday, the Washington State Department of Commerce announced their Housing Trust Fund (HTF) awards for affordable housing and home ownership projects. Eight Common Ground partnerships were awarded a grand total of $10,563,923. This funding will ultimately lead to 281 additional units of affordable housing from here in the Puget Sound to as far east as Omak. These projects will provide homes for a variety of communities, from homeless youths to seniors to low-income folks with chronic mental illness.
The housing organizations we assisted in the application process include:
- DESC – Delridge Supportive Housing – $500,000
- Friends of Youth – Youth Haven – $496,000
- Imagine Housing – South Kirkland TOD – $2,000,000
- Housing Authority of Island County – Sunny View Village – $2,500,000
- Mason County Shelter – Mason County Shelter and Shelton Creek Apartments – $2,243,601
- Navos – Cedarstone Apartments – $1,200,000
- Pine Meadows Senior Housing – Pine Meadows – $778,751
- Providence Health and Services – Providence John Gabriel House – $845,571
This past spring, Common Ground worked closely with each organization to assemble a 4-inch thick HTF application. Using a hand truck to transfer all the binders, we delivered the entire payload of applications to Olympia by the July 27 deadline. According to a Department of Commerce email, the HTF was able to fund 47 projects of the 75 submitted applications. Unfortunately, they will not be receiving any further applications in the 2011-2013 Biennium. In this most recent session, the legislature funded the HTF at $50 million for the 2011-13 budget. This is down substantially from $200 million during the 2007-09 cycle.
Established in 1987, the State of Washington Housing Trust Fund helps communities meet the housing needs of low-income and special needs populations. When funding is available, the Department of Commerce provides awards to support the construction, acquisition or rehabilitation of affordable homes. More about the Housing Trust Fund at the Department of Commerce webpage.
Photo Credit: FotoBart
