Recap: Reinvest Washington Summit Brings Together Housing and Community Development Leaders in Tacoma

Recap: Reinvest Washington Summit Brings Together Housing and Community Development Leaders in Tacoma

On September 22, community development leaders, housing advocates, financial institutions and policymakers gathered in Tacoma for the sold-out Reinvest Washington summit. The day began with a blessing and welcome dance from members of the Puyallup Tribe, the original stewards of the land on which Tacoma stands, a powerful reminder of who came before and why this work matters.  Reinvest Washington was organized by the National Community Reinvestment Coalition (NCRC) and a host committee of nine Washington State community organizations: Affiliated Tribes of Northwest Indians EDC, African Community Housing and Development, Asia Pacific Cultural Center, Casa of Oregon, Low Income Housing Institute, OIC of Washington, Office of Rural and Farmworker Housing, Tacoma Pierce County Habitat for Humanity, WSECU, Washington Homeownership Resource Center and Urban League of Metropolitan Seattle.  The day-long convening brought Washington State’s most pressing affordable housing and community investment challenges to the forefront and made the stakes unmistakably clear. The morning general session set the stage for a day of bold conversation. Ryan Mello, Executive of Pierce County, and David Frockt, Deputy Policy Director for the Office of Governor Bob Ferguson, joined Sharon Lee, NCRC board member and executive director of the Low Income Housing Institute, to discuss the housing affordability challenges facing Washington State and the role that government, financial institutions and community organizations must play together to address them. The lunch general session showcased NCRC’s President and CEO Jesse Van Tol, Washington State Lieutenant Governor Denny Heck and NCRC’s Chief of Community Engagement and Institutional Accountability Michele Perez. Lieutenant Governor Heck made the case for urgency on housing in clear terms. “The solution is as simple and elegant as it is elusive: build more homes of all kinds for all our neighbors,” he said. He connected housing supply directly to economic health: “Having an adequate supply of housing isn’t only the moral thing to do, but it is also vital for our local communities’ economic development.” Van Tol delivered stark new data on what Washington State stands to lose under the proposed federal Community Reinvestment Act (CRA) rollback. NCRC research shows Washington State could lose nearly $3 billion in community development financing. Banks currently deliver $3.1 billion annually in community development activity in the state. Under the proposed rule, that number could fall to just $100 million. Van Tol grounded the data in personal terms, drawing on his own upbringing to explain why this work matters. “For every Jesse, there’s 100 children that didn’t thrive in Memphis. My friends: other Jesse. Calvin. Dennis. Tamika. Brian. Phuong. And that is why I believe access to capital is a justice issue,” he said. Van Tol urged Washington State policymakers and advocates to strengthen the state’s own CRA, in place since 1985, as a safeguard against federal rollbacks. He also called on all states without one to act fast. The summit also featured a CRA action table in the pavilion where attendees could learn more about the proposed rollback and what is at stake for Washington State communities. NCRC developed a comment drafting tool to make it easy for individuals and organizations to submit comments before the October 13 deadline. Visit ncrc.org/cra to submit your comment today. Not only did attendees hear from our featured speakers, but they also chose from nine breakout sessions. One session tackled the growing conversation around accessory dwelling units (ADUs) and detached ADUs (DADUs) as a tool for expanding affordable housing supply. Speakers pushed back against the idea that building small automatically means building affordably. “Being realistic about what can be done within the actual budget and can be done within the scope of the purpose of the project should be top of mind,” said Leslie Byrd. Caleb Jackson echoed the need to center community from the start: “Having a clear vision and purpose before you begin designing your ADU or DADU comes first, then determining a plan with the community in mind should take place at the onset of developing these dwellings.” Speakers addressed the persistent gap between community land trusts and the financial institutions that could support them and pushed banks to close it. “Banks should have conversations with community land trusts to really understand the model, which will demystify it for you and hopefully lead to more of us underwriting for these initiatives,” said Titus Davis. Kathleen Hosfield highlighted the broader role banks can play: “Banks have multiple ways of helping solve the affordable housing and homeownership issues by financially enabling us to leverage the funds to increase our capacity to make this work sustainable long term.” Rep. Jamila Taylor spoke to the power of coalition building across racial and political lines to advance housing goals. “BHI is about solidarity in action, bringing those in that aren’t always heard and bridging divides between racial groups and political leanings to work towards one mission and one goal,” she said. Nicole Bascomb closed out the day’s themes with a reminder that Washington State’s housing crisis did not emerge by accident. “There isn’t one way of fixing this housing problem when it was built to keep certain communities out, so we have to look at a systems-level approach,” she said. The sessions wrapped up just in time for attendees to carry those conversations into the evening reception, where practitioners, advocates, lenders and policymakers continued connecting and networking across sectors. That energy with relationships built and strengthened over the course of the day is what makes the work possible long after the summit ends. To learn more about NCRC’s work in Washington State and across the country, visit ncrc.org. #JustEconomy