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In 1933, faced with a housing shortage, the federal
government began a program explicitly designed to increase — and segregate —
America's housing stock. Author Richard Rothstein says the housing programs
begun under the New Deal were tantamount to a "state-sponsored system of
segregation."
The government's efforts were "primarily designed to
provide housing to white, middle-class, lower-middle-class families," he
says. African-Americans and other people of color were left out of the new
suburban communities — and pushed instead into urban housing projects.
Rothstein's new book, The Color of Law, examines
the local, state and federal housing policies that mandated segregation. He
notes that the Federal Housing Administration, which was established in 1934,
furthered the segregation efforts by refusing to insure mortgages in and near
African-American neighborhoods — a policy known as "redlining."
At the same time, the FHA was subsidizing builders who were mass-producing
entire subdivisions for whites — with the requirement that none of the homes be
sold to African-Americans.
Today African-American
incomes on average are about 60 percent of average white incomes. But
African-American wealth is about 5 percent of white wealth. Most middle-class
families in this country gain their wealth from the equity they have in their
homes. So this enormous difference between a 60 percent income ratio and a 5
percent wealth ratio is almost entirely attributable to federal housing policy
implemented through the 20th century.
Hear
the full story on NPR’s Fresh Air.
 The Board of Somali Youth and Family Club (SYFC) announced
the recipients of SYFC’s 2017 Breaking Barrier, Artist, and Community
Ambassador Awards. These individuals are authentic agents of change in
social justice and equity through Human Service, Arts, and Volunteerism in
South King County. Director of All Home, Mark Putnam received the Breaking
Barrier Award, recognizing community members that have demonstrated selfless
acts to push boundaries and promote social equity.
“Through Mr. Putnam’s leadership, authentic stories of our
vulnerable community members were published and shared with the media. His work
to make homelessness rare, brief, and one time has made a tremendous impact on
the refugee and immigrant community. Mark has dug deep to strike out against
injustice. His moves sent a ripple of hope bringing the voices of the affected
voiceless communities to the decision-making tables of King County.” – Somali Youth
and Family Club Board
Matthew Desmond, the Pulitzer Prize-winning author of Evicted,
published a compelling and powerful piece in the New York Times magazine
entitled, How
Homeownership Became the Engine of Inequality. He writes about the imbalance in federal housing
policy and how housing tax breaks like the mortgage interest deduction (MID)
favor wealthy and higher income households while millions of the lowest income
renters receive no assistance at all.
Tax reform is one of the best and most immediate
opportunities to right this wrong. The National Low Income Housing Coalition's United
for Homes campaign proposes smart, modest reforms to the MID to give 25 million
low and moderate income homeowners a greater tax break and to reinvest $241
billion in savings into affordable rental housing solutions for the lowest
income renters, like the national Housing Trust Fund and rental assistance.
 A key All Home 2017 legislative priority calls for
increasing and making permanent the Document Recording Fee. Expanding the
document recording fee and removing sunset provisions will preserve and expand
local capacity to help Washingtonians transition out of homelessness. Barbara Poppe, a former Executive
Director of the U.S. Interagency Council on Homelessness shared similar
sentiments in a recent op-ed
for The Seattle Times, “During the special session, the state Legislature
can create more safe and healthy homes that families can afford, as well as
protect and expand funding to address homelessness. If the Legislature doesn’t
act, more than 60 percent of Washington’s homelessness funding will vanish in
2019.”
With threats to the federal budget looming, Poppe also
shared that, “Regardless of what happens at the federal level, the state of
Washington has an opportunity to advance this work. According to analysis by
the state Department of Commerce, a modest increase in the document-recording
fee, coupled with new Housing Trust Fund investments, would enable Washington
to end family homelessness, cut chronic homelessness by one-half, and ensure
that no youth exits a public institution into homelessness…Washington, like
every other state in the era of the Trump administration, will have to rely on
its own resourcefulness to solve homelessness and to ensure that every child
grows up in place where a good life is possible.”
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Janelle Rothfolk, division director at Catholic Community
Services wrote an op-ed in the Seattle Times calling for Legislature to fully
fund the Housing and Essential Needs program:
“Every month, 1,000 landlords in King County receive state
assistance to house their disabled tenants. The HEN program provides direct
rent payments to landlords who verify that they are housing a disabled adult
who has temporarily lost his income due to an injury, illness or medical
condition. For the past five years, the program has received funding from the
state to keep disabled adults in housing. About 3,500 people in King County
were helped in the 2016 fiscal year. It is a successful homelessness-prevention
program…A cut to the HEN program harms taxpayers. Across the state, the program
is able to stabilize an individual for less than $600 per month, per client;
far less than if they were to enter into the homeless system, costing much
more.”
As we move into the FY 2017 Continuum of Care (CoC) Program
competition, Norm Suchar, Director of HUD’s Office of Special Needs Assistance
Programs, shared
a reflection on the FY 2016 CoC Program competition: “Our driving value
continues to be increasing progress towards ending homelessness for all
populations while ensuring that the programs we fund are as effective and
efficient as possible.”
 You are invited to attend the King County Refugee Housing Summit on May 24 from 9:00am-3:00am at the Renton
Community Center. This full-day community forum is focused on developing
critical strategies to address the housing needs of the more than 6,000
recently arrived refugees in King County.
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Affordable Housing Week is May 15 - 22!
Join us at
the Kick-off event, Monday, May 15th at noon as we rally to kick off
Affordable Housing Week 2017 and show our support for affordable #Homes4AllKC!
As
part of Affordable Housing Week 2017, the Housing Development Consortium and
partners are hosting nearly 20
community events across the County to showcase programs, policies,
buildings, and/or best practices helping to create healthier, and more equitable
affordable housing choices in the region. Visit the AHW
Events Calendar for a full listing of opportunities to
engage.
TAKE ACTION during Affordable
Housing Week:
- Visit
the AHW
Action Page, and click on your city (where you live or where
you work, or both!)
- Be
in the know: sign up for updates about
future advocacy opportunities
- Spread
the word on social media, using the hashtag #Homes4ALLKC
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 New and soon-to-be renters can
consult with a panel of experts on what to expect when renting in Seattle for
the first time, at “Renters’ Rights 101,” Thursday, May 18, 6-8 p.m. at Seattle
University. Featuring speakers from the Tenants Union of Washington
State, Be:Seattle and Capitol Hill Housing, the workshop will
include a quick overview of standard practices and important things for first-time
renters to know before entering a rental contract. SU’s Project on Family
Homelessness is hosting the workshop as part of Affordable Housing Week in King
County, May 15-22. Pizza will be available while it lasts to those who register
in advance at http://renters101.eventbrite.com.
For more information, please contact Shan Yonamine at
yonamin1@seattleu.edu.
All Home Annual Conference – Save the Date!
Wednesday, June 14
This year’s Annual Conference will mark the half-way point
of our Strategic Plan to make homelessness rare, brief and one-time in King
County. Join us as we reflect on our progress and recommit to our goals. The
conference will offer a variety of workshops for all members of our Continuum
of Care, as part of our larger training and technical assistance plan. Stay
tuned for more details.
All meeting dates, times and
locations as well as other related materials are available on the All Home
website. All Home Continuum of Care meetings are open to the public and
attendance is encouraged.
All Home is committed to support system transformation
efforts through relevant capacity building activities. The full Capacity
Building Plan can be found on our website, here
and all learning opportunities can be found on our calendar, here. If you are
offering a training and want to get the word out or have a specific training
need or recommendation for All Home, please contact Triina Van.
Partner Trainings
Equal Access and
Gender Identity Rules Training Webinar
The webinar recording is now available on the HUD Exchange
along with the presentation slides, speaker notes, and transcript. You can
access the materials under Related Materials and
Resources.
2017 Fair Housing Workshops for Housing
Providers: King County Office of Civil Rights
http://www.kingcounty.gov/depts/civil-rights/fair-housing/providers-workshops.aspx
Bitfocus Clarity General Trainings
Register for specific dates and times at: http://kingcounty.hmis.cc/training/schedule-a-training/
Cross Agency Systems Training (CAST) for
Adults and Child/Youth Services: King County Behavioral Health Recovery
Division
Learn whom each system serves, goals of each
program, services available to consumers, and how to access these
services. Systems represented include: Mental Health, Substance Abuse,
Crisis Services, Child Welfare, Parent Supports, Juvenile Justice, Mental
Health Courts, and more. Register
here.
OPERATION: Sack Lunch
Full Time Cooks or Chefs
Compass Housing
Alliance
Program
Manager at Peter’s Place
Property
Manager
Contracts
and Compliance Manager
Events
Manager
Housing
Operations Manager
United Way of King County
United Way of King County is recruiting an exceptional team
of 100 to help end childhood hunger this summer. In King County, 100,000 low-income
children and teenagers rely on free or discounted meals during the school year,
but less than 20% access free meals available during the summer. This team
deploys to parks, libraries, and community centers across King County to
deliver free meals and educational activities to children and make sure
families know about this important resource. Visit http://bit.ly/2nBeYwa for a detailed position
description and to apply. |
