Affordable Housing - Catholic Community Services

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AHA, CCS help thousands find Home A Place to Call ©PHOTO BY MIKE.COM Sergio Paramo and his wife, Dolores Valencia, receive an ovation after a ribbon-cutting ceremony at La Casa de la Familia Santa in Centralia. The couple has three children: Sergio, Jr., Anthony, and Ilse (not pictured). Archbishop Alex J. Brunett of Seattle (left) blessed the 46-unit housing facility for farm worker families September 8. Also pictured are Deborah Saweuyer-Parks, president and CEO of Homestead Capital, a major funder, and the Very Rev. Kenneth Haydock, Episcopal Vicar for Catholic Charities and chair of the CCS and AHA Board of Trustees. 14 Samaritan Magazine Fall 2005
Today, AHA and CCS provide more than 1600 affordable housing units in 32 facilities throughout Western Washington, helping thousands of low-income families, seniors and disabled people find a place to call home. Finding affordable housing for low-income families is reaching a crisis level in Western Washington, presenting a growing challenge that has brought innovative efforts and solutions from the Archdiocesan Housing Authority and Catholic Community Services. The region’s economy is on an upswing, employment is increasing, and hundreds of homes are going up in the suburbs. New apartments and condominiums seem to be everywhere. Empty lots are eyed for new homes. Yet a large segment of the population can’t afford such homes. Record-setting sales in the area’s soaring real estate market pushed the median cost of a home in King County to $375,000 last June, more than double the 1995 median price of $166,000. Apartment options offer few alternative solutions for low-income residents. In King County, a fulltime worker needs to earn $19.17 an hour to afford an average twobedroom apartment at $996 per month, according to a King County government report on affordable housing issued last November. This is based on a worker’s spending 30 percent of his or her income for housing. More than 36,000 very lowincome households are paying more than half of their income for rent, the study found. Figured another way, for those earning King County’s median income of $72,250, a monthly rent of $1,806 is considered to be affordable. For those families earning $38,950 (50 percent below the median level) the affordable rent ceiling drops to $974. There are thousands who earn far less, restricting their housing options even more. To help low-income families find affordable housing, Catholic Community Services (CCS) formed the Archdiocesan Housing Authority (AHA) in 1979 to develop and build affordable housing. Today that work continues, but the challenges have reached epic proportions. “Today the housing situation is difficult even for working people with good incomes,” said John Hickman, AHA’s director of finance and operations. “Our emphasis is on homelessness and those families with very low incomes. With federal moves to reduce rent subsidies, the situation is becoming even more difficult.” To use limited federal and state housing funds most efficiently, AHA focuses on developing multi-unit rental housing. But Hickman said finding available buildings or land at prices that will pencil out for the agency is increasingly difficult. “We receive financing only through once-a-year funding cycles, since we rely heavily on tax credit financing,” Hickman said. The state’s Housing Trust Fund and Housing Finance Commission don’t have funding available all of the time. When we buy land we have to find a seller who will allow us six to nine months before closing. Most sellers want to close deals in 90 days in today’s heated up market,” he said. With prices rising, even available government funding doesn’t often beat out private contractor bids for property the AHA needs for its housing, making matters even worse. “One bright spot is the city housing levy passed in Seattle that provides funding for affordable housing,” Hickman said. “Not every city does that. We’re fortunate to have that resource.” AHA and its sister organization, Catholic Community Services, often work collaboratively on projects, Hickman said. Examples are the Washington Grocery Building development in Bellingham, an AHA-sponsored project with CCS as the primary tenant of the mixed housing and retail facilities. “Typically what drives ownership, w w w.ccsw w.org Catholic Communit y Ser vices of Western Washington 15
Page 1 and 2: Volume 1 Number 1 • Fall 2005 SAM
Page 3 and 4: Trouble on the Home Front By Very R
Page 5 and 6: Hurricane Katrina New Life the Gulf
Page 7 and 8: FACT: In 2004, CCS made it possible
Page 9 and 10: FACT: In 2004, CCS volunteers in Pi
Page 11 and 12: Funds donated through CCS Week will
Page 13: phone cards, games, socks and stamp
Page 17 and 18: Where You Will Find Us Bellingham F
Page 19 and 20: elationships to serve. The poor and
Page 21 and 22: Home Care Is Our Mission We provid
Page 23 and 24: Benedict House set to open in Febru
Page 25 and 26: Founder (1000-2499) Adobe Systems I
Page 27 and 28: Mr. Leonard J. Kreissl III Mr. and

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