Affordable housing forum held in Shoreline

On April 21, the North King County Affordable Housing Stakeholder Forum was held in the Council Chambers of the Shoreline City Hall. Here is the report from Karen Williams of the Housing Development Consortium.

When over 220 children are homeless in the Shoreline and Northshore School Districts, and a minimum wage worker needs to work 95 hours a week to afford an average two-bedroom apartment; it is clear housing affordability is affecting our entire community.   The good news is that while the need is great; there are many ways cities and nonprofits can partner to ensure each family has an affordable place to call home.

These are key take away messages from the April 21st Housing Forum attended by more than 70 people representing the faith community, King County government, local city planners and elected officials, non-profit developers and advocates. There is no one solution to solve the problem of housing affordability and there are multiple strategies from very complex and expensive new construction, to less complex and costly approaches such as rent subsidies.

Presenters offered a range of innovative ways that affordability can be maintained in the community with existing resources and enhanced partnerships. Congregations and nonprofits showcased projects that transformed underutilized land held by a church into affordable housing. Another example, the Landlord Liaison Program, partners with private landlords to give case-by-case exemptions to tenant screening criteria with a guarantee of a 24-hour hotline and financial insurances. This program has proven really successful for both parties, offering candidates to fill landlords’ vacancies and providing a leasing opportunity for a tenant who may have a prior credit or eviction history that would otherwise screen them out of the rental market.

The event was hosted by the North Urban Human Services Alliance (NUHSA), the Housing Development Consortium (HDC) and A Regional Coalition for Housing (ARCH). The case studies iterated the importance of partnerships, and each of the sponsoring organizations will continue the work of identifying and fostering these opportunities.

All speakers stressed that regardless of scope partnerships are essential to success. One of the roles NUHSA will play is to help identify and foster partnerships.

If you missed the forum, you can attend a follow-up strategy session where opportunities and actions will be prioritized. The meeting is open to all and will be held at Shoreline City Hall on Wednesday, May 12, from 8:30 – 10 am in Rm 302.