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More than a dozen events are scheduled for this year’s Affordable Housing Week (AHW), being observed May 7-13 throughout King County. Now in its 8th year, the event features a series of education and advocacy events highlighting the role affordable housing plays in stabilizing communities.
AHW kicks off on Monday, May 8 at 10 am when hosts Housing Development Consortium and Civic Commons assemble a cross-sector of partners at the SEIU 775 Auditorium in Seattle to “share strengths and insights on how organizations are embracing and advancing equity in the housing sector.” Registration for the free event is required. Space is limited.
On May 6, before the official kickoff, the impact women have toward affordable housing solutions will be celebrated with a day of service. During the Women Build event, volunteers will start framing 26 new affordable homes for families in South Park. The event is presented by Habit for Humanity Seattle-King & Kittitas Counties.
Other Affordable Housing Week events include:
- Bayview Tower: Buildings as a Resource to the Electrical Grid (May 8)
- Maximizing Utility Incentives for Affordable Housing New Construction (May 9)
- Eastside Transit-Oriented Development (May 9)
- Urban Land Institute Panel on The North Lot Affordable Housing (May 9)
- Seattle Housing Levy (May 10)
- Seattle Comp Plan Workshop (May 10)
- Exclusion on the Eastside (May 11)
- Bellwether Housing’s Tour of The Aires at Bitter Lake (May 11)
- South King County Backyard Kickoff (May 11)
- State Legislative Recap (May 11)
- Community Land Trusts (May 12)
- Pride Place Tour (Partnership between Community Roots Housing and GenPride (May 12)
- Closing Reception (May 12)
Additional programs will be listed on AHW’s online Schedule of Events. The site includes more details on each program and registration links.
HDC describes King County’s “exacerbated need for affordable housing” as a regional problem that affects all municipalities. “We hope to ignite an unprecedented investment in affordable housing across our region,” the organization stated, adding, “This is an opportunity to urge cities across King County to adopt new and effective strategies that address our urgent affordable housing needs.”
Among the programs and services HDC offers is a downloadable Housing Toolkit for Cities, Counties and Advocates in Washington State. The resource, divided into four sections, contains 20 high-impact policy tools local governments can use to bring more affordable housing to their communities.
The Housing Development Consortium of Seattle-King has 190+ member organizations that work collaboratively to meet regionwide housing needs of people with limited incomes.