The Thurston County Regional Housing Council (RHC), on Wednesday, August 28, voted to support the expansion of the Black Home Initiative (BHI) to Thurston County.
The BHI is a program aimed at increasing homeownership opportunities for Black families.
Christa Lenssen, Olympia's Housing Program specialist, provided an update on the local conversation with BHI representatives. She shared that local stakeholders, including nonprofit organizations, financial institutions, and real estate groups, had drafted a formal letter requesting that BHI expand to Thurston County and partner with the region.
The City of Olympia, Olympia Federal Savings Bank, Northwest Cooperative Development Center, Thurston Asset Building Coalition, Thurston Housing Land Trust, and Thurston County Realtors Association have signed the letter.
At its Aug. 15 meeting, the Affordable Housing Advisory Board (TAHAB) unanimously recommended that RHC become a partner in the BHI initiative.
According to Lenssen, the BHI partner pledge does not require staff time or financial commitment from participating organizations. It is a commitment to participate in the collaborative effort.
She said the RHC could support the BHI in many ways, such as:
Olympia Councilmember Dani Madrone announced to the RHC that the city has already signed the pledge and fully supports the RHC doing the same.
In the recent Olympia City Council meeting, the councilmembers expressed willingness to support and collaborate with the BHI, a Seattle-based group whose efforts focus on addressing disparities in homeownership for Black households.
Meanwhile, Tumwater Planner Manager Brad Medrud said the city council also supports the BHI. He noted they would need to approve any reallocation of resources according to the council's work program.
On its Aug. 27 work session, Medrud discussed the BHI with the city council. He shared the initiative aims to help 1,500 new Black, low- and median-income homeowners by 2027 through a collaborative impact network model involving multiple organizations throughout King and Pierce Counties.
Medrud said that the initiative ties in with several of the work that city staff is already doing, such as the city's comprehensive plan update, the city's housing action plan, and the countywide assessment of fair housing, which considers BIPOC access to homeownership as a key goal.
Tumwater Councilmember Angela Jefferson said that the initiative is a "natural extension" of their previous work, which has included supporting housing nonprofits such as Habitat for Humanity and Homes First.
Councilmember Peter Agabi said the project ties with the city's plan to establish a Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion Committee.
When the council asked Medrud how joining the initiative would impact staff capacity, Medrud said that with city staff's limited resources, they could maintain the level they are currently participating by attending meetings with partners and sharing what they learn through the project with their networks.
He added that they could use material from the initiative to identify plans that the city could consider as they develop the implementation actions for the housing element of its comprehensive plan.
Lacey Councilmember Carolyn Cox said the city council is interested in the initiative, but they want their Commission on Equity and staff to review it further before making a final decision.
From Thurston County's point, BOCC Commissioner Carolina Mejia said the board has not yet had the opportunity to discuss the BHI.
Mejia requested the BOCC staff to include the BHI discussion in one of their future work sessions, potentially including a presentation on the initiative.
Planning and Building Manager Gary Cooper told the RHC members that the BHI was not presented to the Yelm City Council.
Given their limited resources and lack of a dedicated housing program, Cooper said Yelm would likely be able to provide moral support for the initiative, such as signing letters of support.
However, he acknowledged that Yelm would have limited staffing resources to contribute, aside from what he might be able to do as part of the RHC's tech team.
Lenssen clarified that this does not preclude any jurisdictions from signing the partner pledge and joining the BHI partner network later.
After deliberation, the RHC voted unanimously to sign on to the letter and the partner pledge, becoming a regional supporter of the Black Home Initiative's expansion to Thurston County.
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bobkat
Um-m-m. . . . I've visited their impressive website BUT . . . can someone explain how a program that aims specifically at one racial group is not discriminatory on its' face and in violation of federal law?? What about Asians, Hispanics, Caucasians, Arabic peoples??
Friday, August 30 Report this
RedskinPatriot
Cannot agree more Bobcat!
Just because something is righteous doesn’t mean it is right.
Radical egalitarianism is a political theory that promotes absolute economic and political equality within a nation. It's characterized by a utopian vision that opposes class stratification and hierarchy, and is based on the idea that the lowest common denominator is the key to equality.
Saturday, August 31 Report this
hptrillium
Black people have historically been discriminated against in home ownership with redlining of neighborhoods and it being hard for them to get loans to buy houses. Because it was so difficult for black people to buy homes they have not been able to acquire wealth that comes from the equity in a house. Increasing Blacks opportunity to buy homes is a small way of reparation for the past wrongs done to Blacks by white people.
It is also true that all people with low incomes should get an opportunity to be a home owner. More affordable housing is very much needed for all.
Saturday, August 31 Report this
tommull
DEI = Division, Exclusion, Indoctrination!
Saturday, August 31 Report this
Snevets
@hptrillium thank you again for the facts. Thank you Olympia for addressing this situation.
Saturday, August 31 Report this
Kruz81
Wow, when will it stop? At some point people must stop using color as an excuse. Many blacks have been here longer than others but have not been strong enough to change things based on what. It is not always racism. Having initiatives for any color of skin is a bad start to any program. Thanks liberals.
Saturday, August 31 Report this
HappyOlympian
The whole premise of this program makes little sense. Unless one has the income to comfortably support owning something expensive, they should not buy; home, car, education, does not matter what. Home ownership is financially draining and Thurston County and most western Washington very expensive. Low-income people should not own a home here. Low-income folks should rent, and if they do acquire the needed funds, buy in a less expensive place.The 2008 financial disaster heavily related to this exact problem, people taking on debt they could not support, and lenders making loans to people they knew would struggle to make payments.
Sunday, September 1 Report this
Olywelcomesall
Thank you RHC and all your partners for supporting the Black Home Initiative. The BHI helps descendants of formerly enslaved people with opportunities for fair home loans. It helps people connect with sources of capital for down payments and financial strategies for sustainable loan payments. The BHI helps prevent predatory lending practices that led to the financial crises of 2008. Those predatory lending practices resulted in a higher proportional home foreclosures for black people. BHI approach helps grow and bring resilience to our regions housing market. As a result it helps all of us.
Sunday, September 1 Report this
BCBEAN
Agree this is little more than symbolic. If a black family can afford a house, they're going to buy one and they don't need this bunch of amateurs on the county and city council to give them anything. The county and city councils provide yet another example of the best lacking all conviction and the worst being full of passionate intensity.
Sunday, September 1 Report this
Southsoundguy
These are not serious people.
Monday, September 2 Report this
ViaLocal
Completely agree with hptrillium and Olywelcomesall. Very impressed with Olympia for supporting this initiative.
I am always happy to share my city, or county, with more people of color.
Let's start with one marginalized group at a time, if we have to.
Let's be more mindful of helping our colored neighbors move forward, especially our Black neighbors.
Let's keep in mind that our country purposefully pushed the Black population down for decades, and do everything we can to reverse that mindset, in our own lives and in our institutions.
Let's help them create the generational wealth that White people created by simply having access to better jobs and affordable housing since The Great Depression.
Let's be mindful of helping all racial groups, but also remember that this country was built off the labor of Black individuals, who were never even paid for that work.
Tuesday, September 3 Report this
wolfmanner
Again more DEI garbage from the Marxist crowd. No mention how Italians, Irish, Germans, Jews, have been discriminated for over 100 years.
Tuesday, September 3 Report this