Washington County Joins HUD's House America Initiative to Address Homelessness

County goal to house 879 families experiencing homelessness and build 90 affordable homes (with an additional 381 homes under construction) by December 31, 2022

SEATTLE - The Washington County Board of Commissioners joined U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) Seattle Deputy Regional Administrator Michael Look, stakeholders, and advocates to announce that Washington County has joined House America: An All-Hands-On-Deck Effort to Address the Nation's Homelessness Crisis.

House America is a national partnership in which HUD and the U.S. Interagency Council on Homelessness (USICH) invite mayors, county leaders, Tribal nation leaders, and governors to use the historic investments provided through the American Rescue Plan to address the crisis of homelessness through a Housing First approach by immediately re-housing and building additional housing for people experiencing homelessness.

House America leverages funding from the American Rescue Plan, federal, state, and local resources to re-house at least 100,000 households experiencing homelessness and add at least 20,000 new units of affordable housing into the development pipeline by December 31, 2022. Within those national goals, communities will set and achieve local re-housing and unit creation goals.

Washington County Board Chair Kathryn Harrington said, "House America is an important initiative given the rise in homelessness we have witnessed in our community. There is no one size fits all solution as we work to address the needs of people experiencing homelessness, but I am hopeful seeing the many programs we at Washington County have implemented and will continue to implement to address this crisis."

House America is the federal government's direct response to the crisis of homelessness, which was rising even before the arrival of the COVID-19 pandemic. In March, HUD released its 2020 Annual Homeless Assessment Report Part 1 to Congress (www.huduser.gov/portal/datasets/ahar/2020-ahar-part-1-pit-estimates-of-homelessness-in-the-us.html), which found that more than 580,000 people experienced homelessness in the United States on a single night in January 2020, prior to the pandemic. HUD's homeless assessment report found that there were 618 homeless individuals in Washington County before the COVID-19 pandemic. COVID-19 has created greater urgency to address homelessness, given the heightened risks faced by people experiencing homelessness. At the same time, COVID-19 has slowed re-housing activities due to capacity issues and impacts on rental market vacancies.

"We welcome Washington County to the House America initiative," said HUD Seattle Deputy Regional Administrator Michael Look. "Their commitment to addressing homelessness by leveraging American Rescue Plan funds and other resources will help their community continue down the path of bringing more people inside and helping more people stay in their homes. We look forward to partnering with them on their goals."

Through the American Rescue Plan, communities now have historic resources-70,000 emergency housing vouchers and $5 billion in HOME Investment Partnerships grants—to help more Americans obtain the safety of a stable home. In Washington County, HUD awarded 89 Emergency Housing Vouchers, and $6,101,728 in HUD Home Investment Partnerships Program funding, resources which can be used to achieve Washington County's housing goal of housing 879 families experiencing or at-risk of experiencing homelessness and building 90 affordable homes (with an additional 381 homes under construction).

HUD Emergency Housing Vouchers -The Emergency Housing Voucher (EHV) program is available through the American Rescue Plan Act (ARPA). Through EHV, HUD is providing 70,000 housing choice vouchers to local Public Housing Authorities (PHAs) in order to assist individuals and families who are homeless, at risk of homelessness, fleeing, or attempting to flee, domestic violence, dating violence, sexual assault, stalking, or human trafficking, or were recently homeless or have a high risk of housing instability. For more information about HUD Emergency Housing Vouchers, visit: www.hud.gov/EHV.

HUD HOME Investment Partnerships Programs - The HOME Investment Partnerships Program (HOME) provides formula grants to states and localities that communities use - often in partnership with local nonprofit groups - to fund a wide range of activities including building, buying, and/or rehabilitating affordable housing for rent or homeownership or providing direct rental assistance to low-income people. HOME is the largest federal block grant to state and local governments designed exclusively to create affordable housing for low-income households. For more information about HUD's HOME Investment Partnerships Program, visit: www.hudexchange.info/programs/home-arp/.

Communities also have resources remaining through the CARES Act, the Consolidated Appropriations Act of 2021, and state and local resources to re-house people experiencing homelessness and create additional dedicated housing units to address homelessness. House America provides communities with the focus, resolve, and technical know-how needed to deploy these resources to maximize impact.

To learn more about em House America or to join the initiative, visit: www.hud.gov/house_america. For a list of House America participants, visit: www.hud.gov/house_america/partners.

The Washington County Department of Housing Services was formed in 1992 to administer housing activities and programs of the county and the Washington County Housing Authority. The mission of the Department of Housing Services is to provide a continuum of affordable housing options that promotes community strength. The department offers rental assistance to low-income households through various federally funded programs, creates affordable housing opportunities in the community for low- and moderate-income households through a combination of creative financing and partnerships with public and private entities and administers programs to address homelessness including A Road Home: Washington County's 10-year Plan to End Homelessness and the new Supportive Housing Services program.

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