The Best Resource For Learning From Housers Just Like You!
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PNRC SERVICE OFFICE NEW MAILING ADDRESS
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Please make sure all mail to the PNRC Service Office goes to our new address please!
PNRC Service Office
c/o Shelli Scrogum
12246 FM 1769
Graham, TX 76450
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A Message From Our Very Own Cupid, Pres. Cupid Alexander
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Happy February! As someone with a unique name (Cupid) – This month has always been an interesting, soul searching, gut wrenching, soul clarifying month. And yes it has everything to do with my name, a certain holiday, and the fact that children can be mean, but I digress. The months of January and February have a been amazing, as we have welcomed in the new year, yet have continued our focus on affordable housing deliverables.
I also had the chance to attend our 2020 Board of Governors Meeting held in Santa Fe, New Mexico- and I can say this much; our national leadership and the national NAHRO staff are working with each of the regions on new innovative information sharing and program deliverables that will help maximize budgets, provide training, and to connect all of us better. This was topped off by hearing from Indian housing experts, and learning how the administration of housing is happening in many of the tribal regions.
And finally, we have opened up the registration for our April Pacific Northwest Region NAHRO conference- and I couldn’t’ be more excited. With tracts on finance, maintenance, leadership and more, we are positioned to have a successful conference and I would love to see you there!
As always, thank you PNRC-NAHRO region for being amazing, staying committed, and serving your respective communities. It is appreciated. Happy February!
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Conference Keynote Spotlight: Calvin Terrell
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Calvin Terrell transforms pain into power and haunts into healing. Surviving violences, losing loved ones to addictions, murder, white supremacy, and misogyny, as well as owning his own prejudices and role in oppression, compels Calvin’s service. Calvin is founder/director of Social Centric Institute, a non-profit he built to educate anyone and everyone to be healers of historical trauma around racial intersections, class, religion, gender, and environmental disruption. For more than 25 years, Calvin has engaged every demographic throughout the US in historical trauma healing processes. His approaches draw from many technologies that are colonial, decolonized, and indigenous. For his dedication to human rights, Calvin's been awarded with honors from faith, educational, civic, and activist organizations, as well as government institutions, including the city of Phoenix year 2000 Dr Martin Luther King, Jr. “Living the Dream” Award. The demand of his services prompted organizations such as Harpo Inc., Oprah Winfrey’s production company to contract Calvin to train executive producers, coach various members of the production team, and assist in their transition to the “O” network. He was also honored to be a contributing consultant in designing the Muhammed Ali Center in Louisville, Kentucky. Most recently, the Obama Foundation sought Calvin’s collaboration with regards to community empowerment. Calvin challenges the privileged to abandon fragile pedestals of inconsiderate obliviousness, while he encourages the oppressed to remember their power developed from surviving historical unfairness. He invites all to abandon identity superstitions and materialistic traditions so humanity can meet and collaborate on a healing field of justice waiting for cultivation. His greatest achievements are marriage, fatherhood, and a relationship with the Infinite Power that fashioned the stars. Calvin is not a democrat, nor a republican, a libertarian or anarchist; he is soul experiencing black membership of the human race. He doesn’t care what you think or feel about him, but he loves you! As calvin, the Drapetomaniac, he’s discovered that volunteering is an event, giving is a “season,” but service is lifelong culture of joy, tests, and victories. He invites you to serve with him to heal humanity and be better with All Relations.
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Our Keynote Speakers Are Proudly Sponsored By
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Conference Session Spotlight: Emotional Intelligence
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Emotional Intelligence will be among the Top 10 most desirable job skills in 2020 according to the World Economic Forum's Future of Jobs Report. Emotional intelligence is the ability to recognize, differentiate, and manage our emotions and the emotions of others in our environment. It is considered by many to be more important to workplace success and satisfaction than technical ability or IQ. The great news is that emotional intelligence can be learned and enhanced in order to be a more effective person, employee, and leader. Join us to learn how emotional intelligence can be developed in practical ways with focus, intent, and practice.
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Joshua earned his Bachelor of Science from Northern Arizona University and his Masters in Community Counseling from Seattle University. Joshua explores the societal constructs placed on communities of color and Queer communities as a way to continue to raise awareness and create change. Joshua has spoken and led workshops at the Students of Color conference, Links and Alliances, Queer I am conference, Annual American Counseling Association, Students of Color Conference and Black and Brown Male Summit.
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Session Speaker:
Joshua Magallanes, PLLC
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Joshua has also working with Edmonds School District to adopt a program centered on cultural responsive practice when working with the queer community. Joshua serves as committee chair for the LGBTQIA Task Force at Highline Community College creating climate change and working with Title IX challenges. He served on the board of directors for Gay City Men’s Health Project and currently a faculty member at Highline College teaches courses including “The Queer Experience” and also Cultural Competency Practices and is adjunct faculty where he teaches “Social Justice”. Joshua also owns a private practice in Seattle where he provides therapeutic services for individuals and couples in the queer community and for communities of color.
~Joshua believes the developmental process is a road that is never paved or well-traveled; the way we live it and experience it is what makes us marvel at the amazing products along the way. ~
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Koz at the Dome Apartments Welcomes 64 Homeless or Near-Homeless College Students
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UW Tacoma, Tacoma Community College, and Tacoma Public School students experiencing homelessness or housing insecurity should email: Tacoma Community College: CHAP@tacomacc.edu | UW Tacoma: stusuppt@uw.edu
TACOMA, WA – Feb. 7, 2020 – Tacoma Housing Authority and Kōz Development are excited to announce 64 brand new affordable apartments in downtown Tacoma for homeless and low-income students. The new apartments, Kōz at the Dome, are a short distance from the UW Tacoma campus and an easy transit ride from TCC. They offer studios, one-bedroom and two-bedroom homes available for students, including those with children. The homes come partially furnished. The rent, which Tacoma Housing Authority subsidizes, includes utilities and high-speed internet. 64 of the 152 apartments at Kōz at the Dome are reserved for extremely low or low-income homeless or near homeless students. These apartments help meet a dire need. In 2016, HOPE LAB surveyed Tacoma Community College (TCC) students about basic needs. 69% of the students responding to the survey reported serious housing insecurity within the 12 months prior to the survey; 27% reported that within those 12 months they experienced homelessness. This partnership offers homeless students affordable housing so they can focus on their studies. This property will also house homeless unaccompanied Tacoma Public School (TPS) seniors 18 or older who are also enrolled at TCC or UW Tacoma. TPS identified 53 unaccompanied homeless high school seniors this year. TPS also has 750 McKinney Vento students. On any given night in Pierce County, over 1,000 youth and young adults are homeless without families. Koz at the Dome will give these youth a roof over their head and a second chance at continuing their education. The Foundation for Tacoma Students manages a fund to help cover move-in expenses for these students. Koz and the Association of Washington Housing Authorities seeded the fund through a grant. If you would like to make a monetary donation to help homeless and near homeless students with move–in costs and basic needs, visit: bit.ly/KozStudents
Koz at the Dome is another expansion of Tacoma Housing Authority’s College Housing Assistance Program (CHAP). CHAP is an innovative partnership of THA, Koz Development, CWD Investments, Tacoma Community College, University of Washington – Tacoma, Tacoma Public Schools. CHAP provides or finances housing for homeless or near-homeless students in three ways: 1. THA rental assistance to help students pay the rent on the private rental market; THA serves 75 students this way; 2. THA owned apartments near campus; THA has about 120 units available for this purpose, with more in development; 3. Privately owned apartments near campus, like Kōz at the Dome, under long term contract with THA; the contract reserves the apartments for homeless, near homeless, or low-income students; THA pays down the rent to affordable levels. With the addition of Kōz at the Dome, 200 total units are reserved by contract for these students. Koz at the Dome is the fourth property under a THA CHAP contract, and the second Koz property. “Kōz is proud to once again participate in this THA program. The feedback received from the students living in our Koz on Market Street project is overwhelming. These individuals are so incredibly grateful to have a safe, comfortable place to live which allows them to focus on their education,” said Kōz President & CEO Cathy Reines. “Our main job is to provide or finance affordable housing for Tacoma residents who need help to afford a home. We especially seek to do this in a way that also helps them or their children succeed in school and helps Tacoma’s public schools and colleges educate low-income students. This is a very good use of a scarce THA housing dollar. We are very proud to partner for this purpose with Kōz Development, CWD Investments, UW Tacoma, Tacoma Community College Tacoma Public Schools, and the Department of Corrections,” said Michael Mirra, Tacoma Housing Authority executive director.
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Don't Miss Out On These Amazing Post Conference Trainings!
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Zillow Launches Tool to Help Seattleites Exiting Homelessness Find Affordable Housing
by Monica Nickelsburg, GeekWire
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Zillow Group launched a new tool Thursday to help people experiencing homelessness in Seattle connect with affordable housing options. The tool is hosted on Zillow’s website and allows landlords with affordable units and caseworkers seeking housing for their clients to connect in one place.
Local non-profit Housing Connector and other homeless service providers can browse availability across locations, rather than the traditional process of searching property-by-property. Landlords that use Housing Connector have relaxed criteria that can make it difficult for people to secure housing, like a history of evictions or criminal offenses.
There are 35 landlords and 42 nonprofits using the platform as of Wednesday, with additional partners expected to join, Zillow said.
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Housing Connector is the main nonprofit utilizing Zillow’s new tool. The organization launched last year to help private property owners rent homes to people exiting homelessness. The Zillow tool launching today provides the technology to facilitate those connections more efficiently. Housing Connector mitigates risks for landlords who agree to rent to their clients, including sometimes covering move-in fees and other costs.
The tool is not public-facing, so individuals searching for housing won’t find it on Zillow’s website. But landlords and caseworkers who sign up for the program are able to access it on behalf of clients.
Zillow says its hopeful other communities could find a use for the affordability tool but the company doesn’t have plans to scale beyond the Seattle region at this time.
The tool was born out of Durkan’s
Innovation Advisory Council
, a coalition of technologists and government officials tasked with solving city problems using technology.
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2020 NAHRO Merit College Scholarship
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The NAHRO Merit College Scholarship Program awards $1,000 each to eight scholars, one from each NAHRO region, who are pursuing their first post-secondary degree. Each NAHRO region submits an applicant of their choice from their own scholarship program. If no regional scholarship program is in place, the region will select one eligible applicant to complete the NAHRO Merit College Scholarship application. The regions’ scholarship applications then are judged by the NAHRO Scholarship Committee, which is comprised of Housing America Advisory Committee members.
From these eight scholarship winners, the NAHRO Scholarship Committee will choose three candidates to become a part of the NAHRO-LDG Scholars program, which is a 10-year venture that will provide $1 million in scholarships and internship opportunities to low-income students from around the country and is funded by the award-winning multi-family housing developer, LDG Development.
Of the eight regional winners, three candidates will be chosen by the NAHRO Scholarship Committee to be a part of the NAHRO-LDG Scholars program. NAHRO-LDG Scholars will receive:
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A $12,000 scholarship distributed over four years to assist with tuition and fees;
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$3,000 a year for up to three years, as a summer internship stipend;
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Networking opportunities with business and community leaders.
Scholarship funds for both NAHRO Merit College Scholarship winners and NAHRO-LDG Scholars are sent directly to the scholarship winner’s accredited institution of higher education once proof of registration is received.
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"What Home Means to Me" Poster Contest
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As part of NAHRO's Housing America campaign, a poster contest is held each year for children residing in affordable housing and community developments owned or administered by NAHRO member agencies. Posters reflect the national theme of “What Home Means to Me.” The contest is a collaborative effort of NAHRO’s chapter/state, regional, and national organizations. National honorees are selected from chapter/state-level winning entries.
To Download the Application and Contest Rules
CLICK HERE
All Submissions must be brought to the Regional Conference in Renton on April 27th at check-in.
NAHRO will not accept submissions from individual housing authorities. Any submissions sent directly to NAHRO will be disqualified.
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Seattle Housing Authority and City Announce Plans For Northgate Development
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SEATTLE – February 10, 2020 – Today, the Seattle Housing Authority and Seattle Mayor Jenny Durkan announced an intention to partner on a new master plan for the Northgate Apartments, which SHA purchased at the end of 2019. They are located near I-5 just north of Northgate Mall and the Northgate Link Light Rail station, which is slated to open next year.
“We are excited that we were able to act quickly on an opportunity to purchase the Northgate Apartments and preserve 211 units as affordable housing in one of Seattle’s high opportunity, transit-oriented neighborhoods,” said Andrew Lofton, SHA Executive Director. “We look forward to working with the City of Seattle and other partners to ensure we can sustain and expand the site as a long-term investment in affordable housing.”
"Northgate is on the leading edge of equitable growth for our City. This new acquisition and partnership with SHA ensure that we will not lose ground on affordable housing in this high-opportunity community,” said Mayor Durkan. “Over the coming years, we will work with the community on long-term planning for a transformational redevelopment, ensuring Northgate remains affordable for the next generation.”
There are no immediate plans or a timeline for any change at the 8.5-acre site. Existing residents at the Northgate Apartments have been told by SHA that they are not being asked to move in the near future, and that SHA is committed to keeping rents affordable following the purchase, which closed at the end of December.
Today’s announcement of an SHA and City of Seattle partnership kicks off a long-term planning process to secure funding and develop a master plan for a new mixed-use community that will expand affordable housing and include other uses such as community and social services, market-rate housing and businesses.
As with other successful SHA mixed-use and mixed-income communities at High Point, Rainier Vista, NewHolly and Yesler, SHA will depend on public and private investment to build and sustain new affordable housing on the property.
SHA will form the Northgate Commons Alliance, which will serve as a planning group involving city officials and other key partners. The Alliance will engage and inform residents, community leaders, neighborhood organizations, surrounding businesses, local citizens and others.
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New Sales Tax Increase to Support Construction of More Affordable Housing Locations in Anacortes
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ANACORTES — Voters in the city of Anacortes are approving a one-tenth of 1% sales tax increase to fund the construction of affordable housing, according to initial results from Tuesday night’s special election.
The ballot measure is being approved by about 56% of voters, with 2,749 in favor and 2,197 against, according to the Skagit County Elections Department.
The measure needs a simple majority to pass.
The one-tenth of 1% sales tax increase — and a corresponding sales tax credit from the state — would help fund $6.5 million in affordable housing, including the Anacortes Housing Authority’s renovation of the historic Olson Building and five new townhouses, and the Anacortes Family Center’s 25-unit complex with child care services.
“The community has an interest in supplying some more affordable housing, so that’s pretty amazing,” Brian Clark, the housing authority’s executive director said Tuesday night. “Of course I think it’s more amazing all the volunteers who took the time to make this thing happen.”
Proponents of the
measure
stated that the housing units would be affordable to those whose incomes are 60% or less of median family income in Anacortes. For a family of four, that is about $47,000 a year.
Affordable is defined as spending no more than 30% of one’s income on housing.
The U.S. Department of Housing & Urban Development estimates a third of Anacortes households pay more than 30% of their income for housing, and struggle to afford necessities such as food, clothing and transportation.
The city of Anacortes estimated in 2017 that it would need 971 new affordable units to meet what is projected to be the need in 2036.
Shay Schual-Berke, Anacortes Family Center board member, said the center is cautiously optimistic after Tuesday night’s early results.
“We would like to see numbers before celebrating, but we feel pretty good,” she said.
The sales tax increase amounts to an extra penny on $10 spent on taxable items. If the ballot measure passes, the tax increase would go into effect in July.
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Legion Cottages Raising the Walls Invitation
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Meet Maven, Youth Poet Laureate
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A young writer who bounced from place to place finds housing and recognition
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“I really want to make a difference in small
but significant ways.”
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emoved from their home when school staff discovered signs of physical abuse during a routine physical examination, Maven was placed into kinship care with relatives around the age of five and into state-run foster care around the age of seven.
Maven reflects on being in the foster care system. “I was on auto-pilot. It’s just one of those things your body does when it goes through trauma. Either it shuts down or it powers through.”
“I was moved to 28 different locations in 13 years,” Maven said of their time in foster care. “I became very adaptable but it’s very weird to become adaptable to such traumatic change.”
Maven said that exiting out of foster care at the age of 18 “started my whole bouncing situation of couch to floor to couch to city to shelter to bridge. And that was my very first entrance into homelessness.”Maven had started writing as a hobby at the age of seven and continued writing throughout foster care and two years of homelessness.
Maven was nurtured by the Pongo Teen Writing Project, a nonprofit that works with Seattle teens who are in jail, on the streets or in other ways leading difficult lives. It was Pongo’s founder who encouraged Maven to apply for the Seattle Youth Poet Laureate.
“I didn’t have any expectations,” Maven recalls. “And then it was announced I was one of the eight finalists. I made it – that’s all I wanted – I just wanted to make it as a finalist.” Upon hearing their name called out as the 2016/17 Seattle Youth Poet Laureate winner, it took Maven a moment to process what they had just heard.
The year-long Youth Poet Laureate position gave Maven an opportunity to read poetry and share their voice at community events throughout the region. It also included a book publishing deal.
The majority of Maven’s published poetry collection, Blood Melody, was written while they were homeless and addresses personal pain and social challenges. “I wasn’t expecting the reactions I got from my book,” said Maven. “A lot of people were emotionally moved by it. Mind you I was still homeless at this time, so when all this was over I still went back to a shelter”
While homeless, Maven maintained employment and applied for various housing programs. “In a place like Seattle, the rent is always raising but the payment for your jobs isn’t,” they said. “It’s very stress inducing.”
“Then I hear that I’ve qualified for the voucher program. I’m getting housing!” Maven said about learning from the Seattle Housing Authority that they qualified for the Family Unification Program, which is designed to prevent family separation due to homelessness and to ease the transition of youth who are no longer eligible for foster care because of their age and may as a result become homeless.
Maven said, “The FUP program was great because I just needed housing and I needed it not to be a transitional place.”
“The publishing deal and the Seattle Youth Poet Laureateship in general was the best thing that ever happened to me. Because without that – that wouldn’t have actually led to any of the opportunities I have today. I got the opportunity to open for Ta-Nehisi Coates at Benaroya Hall for 3,000 people,” said Maven.
Frequently invited to speak publically and to teach writing classes to youth and adults, Maven said, “I’m still working three to four jobs. I’m doing everything I want to do and that’s really fulfilling. I really want to make a difference in small but significant ways.”
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Proposal to Declare A Homelessness State of Emergency in Oregon Takes Shape
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House Speaker Tina Kotek wants more homeless shelters built around the state and soon.
“We are really trying to take an emergency mindset to the thousands and thousands of Oregonians who are experiencing
unsheltered homelessness,
” the Portland Democrat testified to lawmakers on Wednesday.
But one way she suggests doing so — bypassing local zoning rules and laws — has some city leaders concerned.
Rob Drake, the city manager of Cornelius, told a panel of lawmakers Wednesday that he knows the House speaker “has a big heart” but total preemption of local control worries him.
“You can appreciate someone might offer up a spot (for a homeless shelter) or have access to a spot that is next to a daycare or a school or heavily impact a business,” Drake said.
Cheri Helt, R-Bend, noted she recently parked her car in downtown Salem next to popular camping spot.
“How much local control do we have when we park our cars next to the mall and there are 100 people camping in tents?” Helt asked, adding while she appreciates the need for local control, she said, this issue is so big it must be addressed.
Kotek is pushing for a
first-of-its kind proposal:
She wants a statewide emergency declaration that would allow cities around the state to more easily site homeless shelters.
Kotek’s latest plan also calls for building low-barrier shelters or navigation centers in Eugene, Salem and the city of Bend.
She is calling for $60 million one-time dollars to go toward creating more shelter capacity from around the state. Kotek increased the amount from $40 million to $60 million after the revenue forecast this week showed the state was predicting more money than originally anticipated earlier this year. The money will likely be divided up largely between creating more shelter capacity and helping with rental assistance.
Under the latest proposal, shelters must meet certain criteria, such as operating out of a building with proper permits, satisfy safety and sanitary sleeping conditions and be located near public transportation.
The latest measure also says only local governments or charitable organizations with three years of experience may operate a shelter, or someone else could partner with either option.
The ability to bypass local zoning would expire in July 2021.
The Committee on Human Services and Housing voted to move the measure to the Rules Committee on Wednesday.
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Pacific Northwest Regional Chapter of NAHRO
pnrcnahro.org
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