FigTree Header 10.14

 

Search The Fig Tree's stories of people who make a difference:

Consortium adds to affordable housing opportunities

 

When the Spokane Low Income Housing Consortium (SLIHC) formed 25 years ago, its 10 members owned 77 safe, affordable rentals.  Now the consortium has more than 40 members—nonprofit developers, other nonprofits, banks, architects and attorneys.  They have developed more than 3,700 affordable rentals and have provided more than 2,000 home ownership opportunities.

Cindy Algeo
Cindy Algeo promotes affordable housing.

“That’s testimony to how far we have come,” said Cindy Algeo, SLIHC’s executive director since 2004. 

SLIHC will celebrate its anniversary from 11:30 a.m. to 1 p.m., Tuesday, June 16, at the Lincoln Center, 1316 N. Lincoln, with a benefit lunch, video and review of SLIHC’s past, present and future.

In 1990, it grew out of the Greater Spokane Coalition Against Poverty (GSCAP), a project initiated by the Spokane Council of Ecumenical Ministries, which gathered bankers, government, nonprofits, social workers, congregations, businesses and low-income people.

GSCAP looked at areas that were lacking services and housing was one concern, Cindy said.

The consortium formed so members could coordinate development of affordable housing and collectively advocate for it.

The first 10 years, it built developers’ capacity by learning the “financial mechanisms.”

“We started projects with Section 8 contracts that guarantee developers will have a portion of their projects be ‘affordable,’ meaning people pay only 30 percent of their income for decent, affordable safe housing,” she said.

Cindy’s awareness of lives behind statistics and her belief that housing is a right are behind her commitment to make more affordable housing available.

“While there are 28,000 Spokane County households earning less than $15,000 a year, there are only 8,000 affordable rentals in Spokane and just 4,000 households with tenant-based vouchers,” she said.  “So there are enough affordable units to serve 12,000, but that leaves 16,000 more households for whom housing prices may be out of reach.

“Where do people in those households live? Many may live in substandard housing or pay rent that is 50 percent or more of their incomes,” she said.

“A good job market with good wages are the flip side of affordable housing,” Cindy said.  “Housing provides stability for a family.  Without that stability, families face multiple challenges.

“It’s hard for people to be successful in other parts of their lives—school or work—without a stable home,” said Cindy, who promotes her belief that housing is a human right.

“What will it mean for us when everyone has housing stability?  We will have a stronger community,” Cindy answers. 

Before leading SLIHC, Cindy worked 10 years with the Spokane Housing Authority as family self-sufficiency coordinator and Section 8 housing manager. 

Coming from Central Idaho, she earned a bachelor’s in American studies in 1974 at Gonzaga University, and later earned a teaching certificate.  She taught two years at a Spokane Valley Catholic school, and then worked several years cataloguing at Gonzaga’s former Crosby Library. 

In the 1970s and 1980s, she was home with three children. 

Cindy worked part time at a Lutheran church for two years, and then worked two years with the Citizens League of Greater Spokane.  After earning master’s degrees in public administration and in urban and regional planning in 1995 at Eastern Washington University, she worked with the Spokane Housing Authority (SHA), where she did internships during graduate school.

The SHA helped found SLIHC.   Andy Reed was director for 10 years, and Marg Dalstrom for four years. 

SLIHC helps its members preserve affordable housing, as well as advocate for it. 

Its Asset Management Group meets four times a year with experts on landscaping, maintenance and preservation of affordable housing communities.

Members advocate for strengthening the Washington State Housing Trust Fund and the Low Income Housing Tax Credit Program through the Washington State Housing Finance Commission, two tools for financing affordable housing.

SLIHC works with other agencies and the city to reduce homelessness through new approaches.  For example, HUD and the Washington State Commerce Department require local jurisdictions to coordinate programs.

There are now common assessment tools for families and individuals to place people in housing suitable for them—shelter, transitional or permanent—so they quickly connect with services and can succeed.

She said the community supports preserving mobile and manufactured home parks, which are affordable.  The Spokane and Spokane Valley councils are revising their comprehensive plans, and are considering that manufactured home parks be preserved through zoning and land use plans.

Cindy anticipates Congressional battles to keep the new National Housing Trust Fund.  If it passes, there could be $4 million available for projects in the state in 2016.  The city and county have funds for rehabilitation and development from federal and local sources.

SLIHC also supports affordable housing by advocating for incentives.

The City of Spokane Council members may consider the Affordable Housing Impact Statement, which would require developers to report on the impact of a new development on affordable housing stock. 

Another consideration, mandatory inclusionary zoning, would require developers to include a percentage of housing in their development that is affordable to households at 30 percent of the area median income—$15,000 for a household of two. 

Because local jurisdictions need long-term goals for affordable housing, SLHIC members build relationships with local elected officials and businesses.

Cindy, who grew up Catholic, lived in Spokane from 1970 to 2006, when she moved to Coeur d’Alene.  Her father modeled that “we are to share our wealth and that it’s important to serve others,” said Cindy, who now attends St. Thomas Parish in Coeur d’Alene.

“I never experienced not having a safe home or adequate financial assets,” she said.  “So I know if people have access to affordable housing it sets them on the path to more security.” 

For information, call 325-3235, email cindy@slihc.org or visit slihc.org.


 
 




Copyright © May 2015 - The Fig Tree