Welcome to Skagit County

April 1, 2004

LOCAL FAMILIES GET A BOOST FOR AFFORDABLE HOUSING

Skagit County Commissioners pass resolution to distribute $300,000 for low income housing

SKAGIT COUNTY - Local homeless people and families who struggle to find affordable housing received good news last week when the Skagit County Commissioners passed a resolution to distribute $301,723 to programs that provide low-income housing or run emergency homeless shelters.

The $301,723 would fund the following shelter and low-income housing projects:

· $94,000 to the Housing Authority of Anacortes to renovate the Wilson Hotel, providing 25 apartments for about 44 low-income people.

· $40,000 to Skagit Habitat for Humanity to build two single-family homes.

· $85,000 to Skagit Valley YMCA’s Project HOPE, a four-bedroom home for young people transitioning out of homelessness. The YMCA will also receive an additional $30,000 to help run Project HOPE as well as their Oasis Teen Shelter.

· $32,523 to Northwest Youth Services to provide case management and counseling to homeless youth.

· $20,200 to Skagit County Community Action to support the operation of their emergency shelter for homeless families.

The new funding for low-income housing projects comes from a $10 surcharge on documents recorded in Skagit County. Funds began collecting throughout Washington nearly two years ago after Gov. Gary Locke signed a bill into law in April 2002 allowing counties to raise money for low-income housing. Forty percent of those funds go to the state, a small amount goes to the county auditor, and the rest remains in the county for low-income housing projects.

“This new funding is a god-send, especially in these difficult economic times,” said Bill Shuler, executive director of Skagit County Community Action, which runs an emergency shelter as well as a program for families transitioning out of homelessness to self-sufficiency. “Not only are people struggling to find work in our county and state, more and more working families are struggling to pay rent and basic bills.”

Last October, a one-day survey found 663 homeless people in Skagit County. This number reflected only those people who volunteer surveyors could find on that date and who identified themselves as homeless; the actual number is likely much higher, according to Shuler.

In addition, housing prices are often out of reach for many working Skagitonians. According to a 2003 report by the Washington Low Income Housing Alliance, a Skagit County resident would have to earn $12.96 per hour to afford the rent on a local two bedroom home. In Skagit County, the so-called “fair market rate” for a modest two-bedroom home is $674 per month; the report finds that about 41% of the 11,778 renters in Skagit County are unable to afford that amount.

For further information, contact: Dan Berentson
Communications Director
360.419.3461