Olympia, Thurston County team up for second chance at federal housing funds

Olympia and Thurston County are again jointly pursuing a federal grant to boost affordable homeownership through the Housing and Urban Development's $100 million Pathways to Removing Obstacles Housing Grant (PRO) Housing funding program.

At yesterday’s Thurston County Regional Housing Council meeting, Jacinda Steltjes, Affordable Housing Program coordinator, outlined the plans to reapply for the PRO Housing funding.

The HUD is making $100 million available in a new round of PRO Housing funding, an increase from the $85 million available in the previous funding cycle. Olympia and Thurston County had applied for but did not receive an award.

According to Steltjes, the HUD anticipates awarding around 30 grants this year, providing opportunities for local jurisdictions.

Steltjes said the goal of the PRO Housing funding is to help communities identify and remove barriers to affordable housing development.

"It's fairly broad in terms of HUD is looking for us to tell them what our barriers are locally and then propose some solutions for overcoming or reducing those barriers," Steltjes said.

Steltjes added Olympia and Thurston County's grant applications are very similar to last year. "[But] it includes some feedback from HUD specific to expanding our geographic area - making sure that we are offering resources in the Grand Mound Rochester area, which is a high need or high geographic priority here area to HUD."

With just over a month to go, local staff are finalizing the grant proposal for PRO Housing.

Steltjes said they aim to complete the final draft by around September 20, followed by a 15-day public comment period. The application will then be brought to the Olympia City Council for a public hearing on October 8 before the final submission, which is due on October 15.

RHC member and Olympia City Councilmember Dani Madrone voiced optimism about the second round of the application, highlighting the challenges of homeownership and the need for dedicated resources to address this issue.