Press

Weatherization and repair grants available for Westway homes

City of Federal Way

July 7, 2011 -The City of Federal Way is encouraging eligible homeowners in the Westway neighborhood to apply for weatherization and home repair grants. A limited number of funds are available for low-income homeowners, and applications are currently being accepted.

Neighborhood stabilization effort to renew Westway

City of Federal Way

July 6, 2011 -The Westway neighborhood has struggled during the housing crisis but the City of Federal Way is helping the neighborhood fight back. With the help of a $1.69 million federal Neighborhood Stabilization Program grant the City will purchase, restore and sell 14 foreclosed homes.

Families, Habitat for Humanity use housing bust to start anew

Seattle Times

Habitat for Humanity, the nonprofit homebuilder, sees the national foreclosure crisis as an opportunity. Habitat's Seattle/South King County chapter recently purchased two foreclosed single-family homes in Kent's East Hill neighborhood and is in the process of buying another. Instead of the typical building a new home from the ground up, Habitat crews have spent all winter refurbishing them, getting them ready for occupancy.

Making Trade-Offs:  Perspectives on Affordable Housing, Transportation and Quality of Life in King County

Communities Count

Housing is the largest household expense for most families, generally followed by transportation.  As housing costs have risen in King County, more families are moving farther from job centers in search of affordable housing.  What are the trade-offs to balance housing, transportation and quality of life?  Are families finding strategies that work?

DHL employees volunteer with Habitat for Humanity during company-wide Volunteer Day

Press release

September 16, 2010 - DHL today announces it is partnering with Habitat
for Humanity to create simple, decent and affordable housing. The partnership coincides with DHL’s company-wide Volunteer Day and its commitment to employee involvement and service to the community. More than 10 percent of DHL Global Forwarding’s employees will volunteer their time to help construct 10 Habitat houses — eight in the U.S. and two in Canada.

Architects Without Borders Builds with Habitat

Press release

September 14, 2010 - Representatives of Architects Without Borders - Seattle (AWB) will build with Habitat for Humanity Wednesday, September 15, to prepare the concrete foundations for a four-plex at the Rainier Vista site at 4015 Martin Luther King Jr Way South, Seattle. 

Students create 96-foot long mural depicting need for affordable housing

Press release

August 12, 2010 - Ninth grade students from Seattle, in collaboration with Urban Artworks, have painted a three-section mural to raise awareness about Habitat for Humanity’s efforts to provide decent and affordable housing for those in need.

Local women building houses as part of nationwide Mother's Day Habitat Initiative

Press release

MAY 5, 2010 - In the days leading up to Mother's Day, more than 200 construction crews of women volunteers across the country are pounding nails and raising walls at Habitat for Humanity construction sites in all 50 states in recognition of National Women Build Week, May 1-9.  Today in Seattle, local women volunteers are taking up tools and building materials to work on the Gebremichal family's new home.

Habitat offers strategies for affordable housing design

AIA Seattle Forum, page 7

FALL 2009 - It is estimated that by the year 2030, an additional 3 billion people (approximately 40% of the world’s population) will need access
to housing. Meeting that need would require the construction of 96,150 new affordable housing units every day. With worldwide urban migration, the challenges for affordable housing are magnified and growing at alarming rates. This is true in the greater Puget Sound region, where high population growth is exacerbated by high housing costs.

Seattle/South King County awarded for passing $1 million tithe donations milestone

Christina Odom, Senior Director of Tithe and Global Engagement from Habitat International, trekked from Atlanta, Georgia to present our affiliate with the Sam Mompongo Award at the Benefit Breakfast on March 17th. The recognition was given for reaching the prestigious $1 million milestone in tithe dollars. All Habitat affiliates are asked to “tithe”—to give 10 percent of their unrestricted contributions to fund house-building work in developing nations. In other words, for each $100 donation, $90 goes to build homes in the Seattle/South King County area and $10 supports our partners overseas, thus reducing poverty housing globally as well as locally. To date, a total of 423 Habitat homes have been built overseas with our tithe money. Currently, we support Habitat work in Bolivia, Honduras, Kenya, Indonesia, Philippines and Tajikistan.

Budget shortfalls threaten affordable housing

Jan. 9, 2009 - Habitat for Humanity of Seattle South King County CEO Marty Kooistra letter to the Editor of the Seattle Post-Intelligencer.

HUD hands out sweat-equity funds to 3 nonprofits

Seattle P.I.

Dec. 17, 2008 The U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development will give $26.5 million in sweat-equity grants to three nonprofit organizations, funding at least 1,540 homes for lower-income, first-time buyers nationwide.

Seattle groups work to secure land, shelter rights

Seattle Times

Oct. 9, 2008 Many of us in the U.S. don't think much about the relationship between land ownership and poverty. But for the 1.4 billion people on our planet who survive on less than $1 a day, land is the most important asset they could have.