Use grant to fund greatest need, affordable housing

Olympia in the late 1970s looked very different. Capital Mall had just opened and businesses were staggering as shoppers deserted downtown. Half of the storefronts were vacant.

By the mid-90s, things had come around: Downtown was effectively reborn and businesses were moving back in. Today, the bones of old Olympia still stand, but people congregate, work and play among them day and night.

And things are changing once again: construction’s booming and city officials expect that 5,000 more people will move downtown in the next 20 years.

There’s something else that’s different. In the late 1970s, people were not living and sleeping on the streets — not in Olympia, and not so much in other U.S. cities, either. This year’s Thurston County homeless census counted 579 homeless people — with 192 of them living on the street, in cars, and in the woods. And they’re not counting the people sleeping on family and friends’ couches and elsewhere, with no real home.

My children find it hard to believe that it hasn’t always been like this. I find it hard to believe we’ve gotten used to it.

Seattle and Portland have declared homelessness a state of emergency. Vancouver, Wash., — with rental vacancy rates below 2 percent — calls it an “affordable housing emergency.”

In 2014, only 6 states in the nation had a higher percentage of homeless people than Washington.

Declaring a state of emergency names this economic disaster for what it truly is — an unnatural event that leaves men, women, and children at risk — on the street, or in unstable or unsafe living situations. It affects their health, and the health of our community. It’s time for the people of Olympia, Lacey, Tumwater, and Thurston County to recognize our own state of emergency around homelessness and work together to address it.

Some people in our community have been working on this for years. Over 70 organizations and agencies participate in Thurston County’s Homeless Housing Hub. Public and private funds support these efforts, but the need always exceeds the money.

One source of funds is the federal government’s Community Development Block Grants (CDBG), awarded to communities to “develop viable communities by providing decent housing, a suitable living environment and opportunities to expand economic opportunities, principally for low- and moderate-income persons.”

Thurston County administers CDBG funds for all parts of the county except Olympia, which has its own CDBG program. The county program shifts its primary focus year-to-year from Lacey to Tumwater to the smaller cities and towns along with rural Thurston County.

In 2015, Tumwater was on point to decide on projects. Most of its $1,047,000 grant went to create new low-income housing or preserve and maintain existing housing, through things like home repairs and sewer replacements that benefit low-income households. In addition, some funding went to social services that support low-income youth, help low-income individuals start businesses, and serve homeless individuals.

In 2015, Olympia’s CDBG funding was $458,265. A significant share of these funds were directed to the Grow Olympia Fund ($219,714), which has a goal of creating more low-to-moderate-income jobs. Its first loan, with an interest rate below 4 percent, funded the expansion of Olympia Coffee Roasting Co. Funds also went to downtown safety improvements, and debt service on previous improvements ($91,500).

No funds went directly toward housing, though $55,397 was given to the Downtown Ambassador Program. This reflects the city’s stated focus in 2014 and 2015 on economic development.

On June 7, the Olympia City Council will review the General Government committee’s proposed plan for use of 2016-17 CDBG funds, which shifts the focus away from economic development. Once the council approves a proposal, there will be a public comment period and public hearing, later in June.

Downtown, business is good. But affordable housing is more scarce than ever. Those who think it’s time to switch the focus and direct CDBG funds back to its first goal — providing decent housing — should let the council know by participating in the June hearing or sending comments (citycouncil@ci.olympia.wa.gov).

At the May 17 City Council meeting, Julie Rodwell, a board member of Homes First!, summed up the situation: “If you fund a park and you don’t fund housing, the park will be the housing.”

This story was originally published June 3, 2016 at 7:07 PM with the headline "Use grant to fund greatest need, affordable housing."