Northwest HUD Lines
April 2015

HUD e-Briefs from Alaska, Idaho, Oregon & Washington
Bill Block, Region X Regional Director (206) 220-5356
Leland Jones, Editor

www.hud.gov/alaska	www.hud.gov/idaho
www.hud.gov/oregon	www.hud.gov/washington
http://twitter.com/hudnorthwest

APRIL IS FAIR HOUSING MONTH
"Fair Housing is your right. Use it!"
And celebrate it too! There are lots of ways to celebrate the Fair Housing Act and the rights and protections it confers. Like the Fair Housing Workshops in Moscow on April 9th, in Lewiston on April 10th, or in Idaho Falls on May 6th. Or how about the 2015 Idaho Fair Housing Conference in Boise on April 14th or the 2015 Inland Northwest Fair Housing Conference in Spokane. Or maybe the Section 3 & Affirmatively Fair Housing Forum in Boise o April 15th. Or the Fair Housing. Maybe the April 16th King County Office of Civil Rights hosts Fair Housing 101 for Nonprofit Transitional &Shelter Housing Providers in Seattle. And, last but certainly not least, how about attending the 29th annual Western Washington Fair Housing Conference in Tacoma, May 28th. Like we say, there are lots ways to celebrate your right - and mine - to fair housing. We hope you'll Join us.

EXPANSION-OMICS
HUD steps up efforts to use HUD investments to promote economic opportunity
Section 3 of the Housing & Urban Development Act of 1968 include a provision - Section 3, for short - requiring that, to the "greatest extent feasible," HUD funds for housing & community development projects "be directed toward low- and very low-income persons, particularly those who are recipients of government assistance for housing, and to businesses that employ them." It's working. From just 2009 to 2014, for example, HUD estimates Section 3 created some 170,000 jobs for low-income workers. That's fine, says. HUD Julián Castro, but he wants to connect even " more hard-working folks and small businesses to local economic opportunities, giving them new tools to secure a more prosperous future." How? By launching a National Section 3 Business Registry to contractors and sub-contractors interested not just in getting work on HUD-assisted projects, but also in making sure more of those who do the work come from areas where the work's being done. The on-line, searchable data base will a searchable online database that local housing authorities, government agencies, and contractors can use to find firms that are self-certified as employing at least 30 percent public housing residents or low-income workers. And if you're with a firm that's already worked with Section 3 and got ideas on how it can be made to work even better, you may also want to take a look at and offer your comments on a proposed rule HUD has published to update and clarify the nuts-and-bolts of our Section 3 program. Comments are due by May 26th.

RIGHTS ON!
Enhancing protections for victims of domestic violence, sexual assault, dating violence & stalking
Arguing that "every person should be able to live in a safe and stable environment," in early March HUD Secretary Julián Castro announced that HUD plans to launch an "exploratory grant program to assist low-income victims of domestic violence living with HIV/AIDS" to provide "the housing and health services they need to build a better future." Got views on the idea? HUD would like to hear them by April 13th. And that's not the only step HUD's taking. A bit later in the month the Secretary also announced significant expansion of the protections afforded victims of domestic violence survivors. The Violence Against Women Act of 2005 barred " eviction and termination" of a lease "due to a tenant's status as a survivor," and, further, prohibited landlords from denying "assistance, tenancy, or occupancy rights based solely on criminal activity related to an act of domestic violence committed against them." Those occupancy rights, however, applied to survivors receiving public housing or Section 8 tenant- or project-based assistance. The Violence Against Women Act of 2013reauthorized the earlier Act and expanded these protections to virtually every HUD-assisted housing program including HOME, CDBG, Section 202, Section 811, Section 221(d) 3, Section 236 as well as housing assisted by the Low Income Housing Tax Credit and the U.S. Department of Agriculture. It also expands those protected to include victims of dating violence, sexual assault and stalking sex, gender identity, sexual orientation, or age.

BE SMART, BUY SMART
The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau has just released a new Know Before You Owe mortgage toolkit that "will help consumers make well-informed decisions about the biggest financial transaction of their life," says Bureau director Richard Cordray.

! ! ! NEWS TO NOTE ! ! !
HUD publishes 2015 income limits effective March 6, 2015.

! ! ! MORE NEWS TO NOTE ! ! !
HUD publishes market-specific post-rehabilitation value limits for the initial purchase price for a houses receiving HOME Investment Partnership funding. They were effective April 13, 2015

BRIEF BRIEFS
Subscribe to HUD Portland's new e-bulletin The Groundbreaker that keep you up-to-date on the work of HUD & its partners in Oregon. . .HUD awards $7.7 million to Alaska Housing Finance Corporation to assist 200 households and $2.3 million to Oregon Housing & Community Services to assist 80 households under Section 811 Rental Assistance to them "from being unnecessarily institutionalized or possibly falling into homelessness". . .El Centro de la Raza breaks ground for 112-unit Plaza Roberto Maestas mixed-use, transit-oriented development in Seattle's Beacon Hill neighborhood. . .Idaho Housing & Finance Association awards $350,000 to newly-formed Moscow Affordable Housing Trust to, says KLEW-TV, to find, fix up and sell two homes for under $150,000 by January 2016. . .Meyer Memorial Trust awards $2.1 million in affordable housing support to Bienestar, Central City Concern, Housing Development Center, Human Solutions, Farmworker Housing Development Corporation, Northwest Housing Alternatives, Network for Oregon Affordable Housing, Oregon Opportunity Network, Hacienda CDC, Columbia Cascade Housing Corporation, St. Vincent de Paul of Lane County, Access Inc & NeighborWorks Umpqua. . .Noting that this year there will be "significantly more resources" available from Oregon's document recording fee which supports affordable housing, Oregon Housing & Community Services says it anticipates "a significant one time increase in available funding" for its current Multifamily funding competition. Washington's Housing Finance Commission okays more than $105 million in financing 575 units in six new affordable housing develops and one restoration in Spokane, Othello, Olympia, Seattle, Redmond and Tacoma. . .After nearly 30 years as executive director of Seattle's Downtown Emergency Service Center Bill Hobson announces his retirement. . .Oregon Housing & Community Services posts updated 2015 Low Income Housing Tax Credit income & rent limits. . .Happy birthday to Community Housing Resources Center celebrating its 20th year of serving Vancouver, Clark County & southwest Washington in April. . .Hacienda CDC sets April 11th grand opening of brand-new Portland Mercado, welcoming 19 new, full-time businesses to the Lents neighborhood. . .City of Boise among 8 cities nationwide selected to participate in 2015 Leadership STAR Communities Program. . .For the second time in 12 months, on March 1st Home Forward, the housing authority of Portland, increased majority of its rent assistance limits - i.e., payment standards - "to keep pace with the robust Portland area rental market" to give "people with a Housing Choice Voucher (Section 8) greater ability to rent in all areas of the community".

A FIRST
The March, 2015 issue of Northwest HUDLines included a report of a Regional Forum of the Mayors Challenge to End Veteran Homelessness hosted by HUD Northwest Regional Administrator Bill Block via a video conference hooked-up to six cities across the Northwest and Alaska. Mayor Brian Blad of Pocatello was among the more than 150 participants in the meeting to help share ideas and innovations on how best to achieve the goal of ending veteran homelessness by the end of this calendar year. A few days after he returned to Pocatello, Mayor Blad held a press conference to make a very big announcement - the population of homeless veterans in Pocatello had reached "functional zero." We've "been able to actually put them in hard-walled buildings," the Mayor told Local8 television. "We've been able to get them all off the streets." It's a big deal as Pocatello becomes the first city in our Region and one of the very first cities in the nation - Salt Lake City, Binghamton, New Orleans - to achieve a goal. It won't, says Bill Block, be the last. "We have made significant progress in reducing veteran homelessness and we know what works." Ending veteran homelessness is a goal "we can and will achieve."

THE STAKES
The cost of not ending veteran homelessness
What's at stake in the Mayors Challenge to End Veteran Homelessness? There's lots of data, lots of opinion. Maybe the clearest answer, though, is a story told at the Regional Forum in Seattle by Jerry Gadek, a U.S. Air Force vet and, now, a Snohomish County Veterans Affairs Officer about a homeless Army veteran who'd served honorably stateside and in Vietnam who took one last chance and knocked on Jerry's door. It's worth a read.

FORUM FOLLOW UP
Interested in reviewing the documents that were the focus of the lively conversations at our recent Regional Forum on the Mayors Challenge to End Veteran Homelessness.

ON THE ROAD
Open ears hit the open road in Idaho
HUD's staff in Idaho spend a lot of time on the road, traveling to a lot of pretty small communities whose names you may never have heard like Lost River or Driggs, Rigby or, Sandpoint. They're there as part of the Idaho Rural Partnership's "community review" process in which representatives Federal, state and local government agencies sit down for a full day with civic and business leaders to talk about their goals for their communities - and what those agencies can do to help them come true. Most recently they visited Preston, a city of just over 5,200 a few miles north of the Idaho-Utah state line. It was, like the 30 community reviews before it, a success. "The fact that they opened this up to so many different people makes me believe change is possible," one participant told The Herald Journal. "Things are going to happen one way or the other; we just need to get the car moving. Even if we're going in the wrong direction, we can start steering it in the right direction."

ON THE LOOK OUT
Getting wages into the pockets where they belong
Meanwhile, some staff with HUD in Seattle spend a lot of their time at their desks, poring over payrolls, on the look-out to make sure that, as required by the Davis-Bacon Act and the Fair Labor Standards Act, contractors and sub-contractors on HUD-assisted projects pay their workers and honest day's wage for an honest day's work. Sounds boring? Not at all, says one HUD staffer. "I come to work every Monday knowing I have a job that matters," says one HUD labor standards enforcement officer. There's "justice to be done." And when it is, adds another, the result is "almost as good as my grandmother's blueberry cheesecake."

BRIEF BRIEFS TOO
Oregon Housing & Community Services and Idaho Housing & Finance Association win total of $156,000 in NeighborWorks funding to support housing counseling. . .Vermonter Merten Bangemann-Johnson, reports Umpqua Post, named to succeed Betty Tamm as executive director of Umpqua NeighborWorks. . .Gustavus, Alaska - population 400 - has always been a "young town" but is now, says Juneau Empire, wrestling with how to meet growing need for assisted living. . .NeighborWorks Anchorage opens office in Palmer, its first outside of Anchorage. . .Medford City Council supports proposal by non-profit On Track to build $7 million, 46-unit Mountain Vista intergenerational housing complex says Mail Tribune. . .Seattle Mayor Ed Murray calls for production over next decade of 50,000 new housing units - 30,000 market-rate & 20,0000 affordable - "to make sure that those who work in Seattle can afford to live here". . .Cottage Grove City Council unanimously okays, says Register Guard, building design to transform armory into "home for dances, town hall meetings, roller derbies, arts and crafts, sports and a lot more". . .Washington Attorney General Bob Ferguson sues Mattawa manufactured home park owner for "sham sales" intended to evade health & safety inspections. . .City of Coeur d'Alene seeks on-line responses from residents to "understand the decisions people make when choosing where to live". . .For first time in two years Seattle Housing Authority opens voucher waiting list until April 10th. . .Washington County, says Oregonian, awards $1 million in CDBG funds to support Cornelius Place development that will bring a new library, community space & senior housing to downtown Cornelius. . .Seattle City Council unanimously okays three new homeless encampments & allocates funds for more shelter beds, The Stranger reports.

UPCOMING
Cutting the costs of 108 loans
HUD's scheduling a new public offering in the last week of May to enable state and local government Section 108 borrowers to obtain long-term, fixed rate financing for approved community and economic development projects. Section 108 borrowers, for example, with interim loans will be able to convert variable rate financing to permanent fixed rate financing. Section 108 Borrowers that have not yet received their full allocation will be eligible to participate in the offering.

NOMI-TUNITY
Competition opens for first-ever Secretary's Healthy Homes Award
HUD & the National Environmental Health Association have set an April 30th deadline to submit nominations for the first-ever HUD Secretary's Award for Healthy Homes. The competition is designed to "recognize excellence in healthy housing innovation" in three areas - public & multifamily supported housing, public policy and cross-program coordination among health, environment & housing. To be considered, nominated projects must "show measurable benefits in the health of residents and be available to low and/or moderate income families."

NOFA-TUNITY
Funding futures in food & agriculture
USDA has announced two Notices of Funding Availability that will enable institutions of higher education serving, first, Alaskan Natives and, second, Hispanic communities to meet education needs with a "broadly-defined" range of food and agricultural sciences with "priority" given to projects that enhance educational equity for underrepresented students," strengthen institutional capacity and "prepare students for careers related to the food, agricultural, and natural resource" systems. The Alaska Native-Serving & Native Hawaiian-Serving Institutions Education Competitive Grants Program expects to award up to $1.5 million with applications due April 27th. The Hispanic-Serving Institution Education Grants will award up to $9.2 million. Strengthening Project applications are due April 16th, Standard Project applications due April 21st and New Collaboration Project due April 23rd.

NOFA-TWO-NITY
Funding farmers markets
USDA also has set a May 14th deadline to apply for funding under its Farmers Market Promotion Program. This year, the program is expected to award a total of $13 million with some 190 grants ranging from a floor of $5,000 to a ceiling of $100,000 to develop, expand and promote farmers markets.

NOFA-THREE-NITY
Supporting rural water sources
USDA's Rural Utilities Service has set an April 13th for eligible nonprofit organizations to apply for its Household Water Well Systems Grant program. This year, USDA expects to fund up to 10 grants for a total of $300,000. The grants are used to provide loans help low and moderate income persons finance the construction, refurbishing or servicing cost of household water wells - NOT septic - systems that they own or will own.

GOT VIEWS?
Asking Oregonians HUD funds should be used
Oregon Housing & Community Services has begun developing its next 5-year Consolidate Plan which guides its implementation of programs funded by HUD's Community Development Block Grant, HOME Investment Partnership & Emergency Shelter Grant programs. As part of the process, it's seeking, by May 15th, input from partners and from members of the larger community. Have you got views - ideas, suggestions, and approaches - on how you think these funds can be best utilized to serve Oregonians? Don't be shy. Now's the time to share them

BRIEF BRIEFS THREE
Washington Community & Economic Revitalization Board okays nearly $1.7 million in grants and loans for infrastructure development in Kelso and Cowlitz, Douglas, Franklin & Jefferson counties. . .St. Helens & Spokane among 20 communities to win EPA Brownfields Area wide Planning Grants. . .Clif Bar breaks ground for 300,000 square-foot expansion of its Twin Falls bakery - creating an estimated 250 new jobs - on industrial park land improved, in part, with Idaho CDBG funds. . .Multnomah County donates three single-family houses to Volunteers of America to provide transitional housing to women & children fleeing abusive situations. . .Habitat for Humanity Clallam completes house #24 in Forks and, just a couple days later, #25 in Port Angeles, says Peninsula Daily News. . .Northwest Fair Housing Alliance announces conciliation with Spokane alleged to have engaged in familial status discrimination by refusing to rent 2-bedroom apartment to mother with 3 children. . .Habitation Center wins $474,000 Portland Housing Bureau Opportunity Fund award to help cover $4.2 million cost of new 33-unit, affordable family housing complex in east Portland. . .Housing First pilot funded by Washington State Coalition Against Domestic Violence & Gates Foundation says "the earlier" clients get support, "the more likely they are able to stabilize in housing" and get "support they need for whatever trauma impacts they might be suffering," says Coalition's Linda Olsen. . .EPA says Seattle ranks 13th & Portland 23rd among nation's top 25 Energy Star cities. . .In 2014 - the 5th of its seven-year authorization - City of Seattle says Housing Levy's Rental Production & Preservation Program "now exceeds its seven-year goal with 31 housing projects containing 1,971 units funded" and each of its other components "is on track to meet performance goals by the end of the levy in 2016".

BY THE NUMBERS
HUD takes a look at the economy in Alaska & the Northwest
HUD economist Tom Aston posts by-the-numbers Regional Report on 4th quarter economy in general and housing market in particular in Alaska, Idaho, Oregon & Washington noting that in the 4th quarter of 2014 nonfarm payrolls grew 2.4 percent or 138,700 positions, "the greatest numerical increase since the fourth quarter of 2006".

FAC-TASTIC
Where's healthy, where's not?
Skagway Borough is the healthiest in Alaska, reports the Robert Wood Johnson's 2015 edition of County Health Rankings & Roadmaps, while Madison County is the healthiest n Idaho, Benton County is the healthiest in Oregon, Whitman County is the healthiest in Washington State. How's your county rate

FACT-SINATING
Disaster preparedness in Seattle
Are Seattle households prepared for disaster, the kind of thing that, in seconds, wrecks your house, turns your life upside down, leaves you scratching your head and wondering "what now?" Sort of, answers the 2013 American Housing Survey recently published by the Census Bureau. It reported, for example, that 76.3 percent of households in the Seattle-Tacoma metropolitan area have disaster plans, 85 percent have set-aside food for a disaster and 48.7 percent have assembled a disaster emergency kit. Not bad. On the other hand, it found less than half of those families have a sufficient emergency water supply, only 34 percent have a designated point to rendezvous in the event members are evacuated separately and only 23.9 percent know what they'll do with their pets in the event of disaster. That's not so good. In Seattle and, probably, most other places big and small there's to be done. You don't to join the Boy Scouts but, to protect you and your loved ones, you do have to Be Prepared!

DATA DIVE
Localizing foreclosure's impact in Washington State
So, what did the foreclosure crisis from 2008 to 2013 look like ZIP Code by ZIP Code in Washington State? Funded by the Washington State Department of Commerce & the Washington Department of Financial Institutions, the recently-released Washington State Foreclosure Mapping Report offers some answers. It was commissioned by the Northwest Justice Project, Columbia Legal Services, Seattle University and El Centro de la Raza and written by Maria Rodriguez, a doctoral candidate at the University of Washington's School of Social Work. It's an impressive, if exhaustive, piece of work.

WORTH A READ
Assessing Washington's Housing Assessment
Talk about a "Data Dive." Look at what Kim Herman, executive director of the Washington State Housing Commission, has been up to. In the February issue of My View, Kim and a group of friends - Faith Li Pettis of the Pacifica Law Group & chair of the Washington Affordable Housing Board; Maureen Kostyack of the City of Seattle; Christina Pegg of the Longview Housing Authority; Kevin Grossman, a Tacoma developer; Wanda Coats of the Tacoma-Pierce County Association of REALTORS; Jeanette McKague of Washington REALTORS; and Cindy Algeo of the Spokane Low-Income Housing Consortium - don their intellectual wetsuits and dive deep into the 2015 Housing Assessment of Washington State - what it says, what it means & what it portends. And just when you think you're drowning in numbers, they offer a helping hand and make sense of it all. If you don't mind an occasional dip in the deep end, it's well worth your time.

WORTH A WONDER
Is Salt Lake City showing the way to end homelessness?
The Daily Show's Hasan Minhaj had heard Salt Lake City's claim of ending homelessness. A typical journalist, he didn't believe it. So he went to Salt Lake to see where the City had hidden the homeless. According to his report back to Jon Stewart, he couldn't find them. Which begs a question. If Salt Lake City has ended homelessness, why can't other cities. A city, for example, like Boise, "Boise and Salt Lake City are roughly the same size and have similar climates and population demographics," Sven Berg observed recently. "On the surface, politics in both states seem closely aligned." But that may be as similar as things get. See why at The Idaho Statesman.

QUOTE WORTHY
Jeff Sanders, 41, suffered a traumatic brain injury "a few years ago." A Section 8 rental voucher from the Bremerton Housing Authority, he tells The Kitsap Sun, kept his family off the streets. "We were so far behind on the rent, it wasn't even month to month anymore. We were drowning." With a voucher, he adds, "we've been able to rebuild our lives. Establish a new foundation." 

QUOTE TO NOTE
Anna Griffin, The Oregonian - "Mayors have been working on this for a generation now, since at least Bud Clark. Why haven't we solved it? What haven't we done? What mistakes have been made?"
Mayor Charlie Hales, City of Portland - "No doubt there are all of the above. There are mistakes, there are things we should have done that we didn't or things we did do that weren't all that effective. It's easy for any of us to look critically at this issue and say, "My God, they spent $47 million on Bud Clark Commons and we still have exactly the same number of people on the streets tonight? Did it do any good?" The answer is yes, there are a whole lot of people who got off the street, got cleaned up, got started toward treatment and recovery because they got under that roof. Does that mean the total number has dropped? No. There are a whole lot of people who have gotten out of addiction and into their first housing thanks to Transition Projects and Central City Concern. A lot of them are now working. There's a lot of individual success being created by good people, whether it's volunteers at the Salvation Army or Blanchet House or professionals at Central City Concern and other nonprofits. There's lot of good work being done. Remember this is a tank in which people are pouring in through several faucets and being syphoned out through several outlets. Marc Jolin and people who do street outreach will tell you that they have the same conversation with these folks 30 times, and then on the 31st time, Joe finally agrees to come indoors. That plumbing analogy, 'We have people pouring in, people being drained off,' is a better way to think about it than 'We still have those same 1,700 people on the streets tonight.' No, we don't. Some of those previous 1,700 people have died or have gotten into treatment or are out of the system." - Excerpted from a lengthy interview of Mayor Charlie Hales of Portland conducted by Anna Griffin for "Our Homeless Crisis," The Oregonian, March 18th, 2015,

WORTH A READ
When Quixote Village - the "tiny home" complex developed, with HUD assistance, by Community Frameworks of Spokane - opened in late 2013 you would have thought Kim Kardashian was one of its residents. You couldn't tell the residents from the national reporters who'd flocked to Olympia to see if "tiny homes" were the wave of the future. Well, Community Frameworks now argues in a recently-published white paper Tiny Houses - A Permanent Supportive Housing Model ‘tiny homes' should be a model for subsidized permanent supportive housing and one of the tools in the tool box to respond to homelessness." Love ‘em or hate ‘em, it's worth a read.

NOTES TO NOTE
Though not imposing any new requirements, HUD issues Coordinated Entry Policy Brief to guide Continuums of Care of HUD's view of "the characteristics of an effective coordinated entry process". . .USDA Rural Utilities sets April 13th for eligible non-profits to apply for up to 10 grants to provide loans to low and moderate income people to construct, refurbish or service household water wells they own or will own. . .Oregon Housing & Community Services sets April 17th deadline to apply for funding under its 2015 HOME & its 2015 LIHTC notices of funding availability. . .USDA Rural Utilities Service sets April 17th deadline for eligible non-profits to apply for $1 million in Revolving Funds to establish loan funds to "predevelopment costs of water or wastewater projects". . .Department of Veterans Affairs sets April 20th deadline for current Transition in Place grantees to apply to renew their 2012 Per Diem Only grants. . .USDA sets April 23rd deadline to apply for Hispanic-Serving Institution Education grants of up to $9.2 million. . .USDA sets April 27th deadline to apply for Alaskan Native & Native Hawaiian-Serving Institutions Education grants totaling $1.5 million. . .HHS sets April 24th deadline to apply for $17.7 million in grants to Community Development Corporations for projects designed to address "economic needs of individuals and families with low-income through the creation of employment and business opportunities". . .Department of Labor's Employment & Training Administration sets April 30th deadline to apply for total of $100 million under American Apprenticeship Initiative. . .HUD sets April 30th deadline to apply for first-ever HUD Secretary's Award for Healthy Homes. . .King County Committee to End Homelessness sets May 1st as deadline to submit comments. . .USDA Agricultural Marketing Service sets May 14th as deadline to apply for grants of up to $100,000 to start, expand or promote farmers' markets. . .Federal Home Loan Bank of Seattle sets May 15th deadline to apply for $5.2 million in funding under its Affordable Housing Program funds will begin "on or about" March 1st with applications due May 15. . .Oregon Housing & Community Services sets May 15th for partners and members of the larger community to offer input on its 5-year Consolidated Plan. . .HUD sets May 26th deadline to submit comments on proposed rule updating its Section 3 program. . .Washington State Housing Finance sets October 5th to 7th for Housing Washington Conference in Spokane & Idaho Housing & Finance sets October 6th & 7th for 2015 Idaho Housing Conference in Boise.

COMING UP
Cascadia Green Building Conference hosts Living Future unconference 2015, April 1st to 3rd Seattle.

Alaska Association of Housing Authorities hosting Developing Alaska Sustainable Housing training, April 7th to 9th, Anchorage.

National Housing Conference hosts 2015 Solutions for Housing Communications Convening, April 7th, Seattle.

Portland Housing Bureau makes presentation on its Annual Action Plan, detailing upcoming investments of Federal funds, April 7th, Portland.

HUD Seattle hosts Basics of Fair Housing Webinar, April 8th, on-line.

Intermountain Fair Housing & City of Moscow host fair housing workshop, April 9th, Moscow.

Intermountain Fair Housing & City of Lewiston host fair housing workshop, April 10th,Lewiston.

Federal Reserve Bank of San Francisco & HUD Office of Native American Programs host workshop on Connecting the Dots to Homeownership on Indian Reservations, April 13th,Spokane.

HUD Boise & Intermountain Fair Housing host 2015 Idaho Fair Housing Conference including keynote remarks by Gustavo Velasquez, HUD Assistant Secretary for Fair Housing & Economic Opportunity, April 14th, Boise.

Oregon AHMA offers workshop on Basic Occupancy for HUD Housing Managers, April 14th & 15th, Salem.

King County Office of Civil Rights offers workshop on Fair Housing 101 for Nonprofit Transitional & Shelter Housing Providers, April 16th, Seattle.

Annual conference of Idaho Economic Development Association convenes, April 14th to 16th, Lewiston.

HUD Boise & Idaho Fair Housing Forum host Fair Housing Forum on Section 3 & Affirmatively Furthering Fair Housing, April 15th, Boise.

King County Office of Civil Rights hosts Fair Housing 101 for Nonprofit Transitional &Shelter Housing Providers workshop, April 16th, Seattle.

American Planning Association holds its annual national conference, April 18th to 21st, Seattle.

Tiny Houses Conference, April 18th & 19th, Portland.

The 2015 Creating Healthy Communities Summit convenes, April 20th & 21st, Boise.

The Foraker Group hosts 2015 Leadership Summit, April 20th & 21st, Anchorage.

HUD hosts Fair Housing Accessibility FIRST training, April 21st, Portland.

Alaska Association of Housing Authorities hosts Contract Administration & Procurement workshop, April 21st to 23rd, Anchorage.

Oregon Opportunity Network offers pre-Industry Conference workshop for new resident supervisors, April 21st, Salem.

Oregon Opportunity Network offers pre-Industry Conference workshop on Achieving Equity. April 21st, Salem.

Oregon Opportunity Network hosts Spring Industry Support Conference, April 22nd, Salem.

Capitol Hill Housing hosts 2015 Annual Meeting and Report to Stakeholders, April 22nd, Seattle.

Northwest Fair Housing Alliance, City & County of Spokane, Spokane Housing Authority & Spokane Low-Income Housing Consortium host 2015 Inland Northwest Fair Housing Conference, April 23rd, Spokane.

Oregon AHMA offers workshop on Annual REAC Refresher, April 23rd, Salem.

Oregon Department of Parks & Recreation hosts 2015 Oregon Heritage Conference, April 22nd to 24th, Coos Bay/North Bend.

Association of Alaska Housing Authorities hosts Project Implementation workshop, April 23rd & 24th, Anchorage.

The Moth hosts Home: Lost & Found Showcase with Seattleites sharing their stories about family homelessness, April 28th, Seattle.

Washington AHMA hosts 2015 Washington Affordable Housing Management Conference, April 28th & 29th, Tacoma.

HUD hosts Fair Housing Accessibility FIRST design & construction training, April 29th, Anchorage.

Oregon AHMA offers workshop on EIV Best Practices for New Managers, April 30th, Salem.

Intermountain Fair Housing & Cities of Idaho Falls & Pocatello host fair housing workshop, May 6th, Idaho Falls.

Pierce County hosts 2015 Emergency Planning Institute, May 5th & 6th, Tacoma.

Federal Reserve Bank of San Francisco & HUD Office of Native American Programs host workshop on Connecting the Dots to Homeownership on Indian Reservations, May 6th, Bow.

Federal Reserve Bank of San Francisco & HUD Office of Native American Programs host workshop on Connecting the Dots to Homeownership on Indian Reservations, May 7th, Olympia.

Federal Reserve Bank of San Francisco & HUD Office of Native American Programs host workshop on Connecting the Dots to Homeownership on Indian Reservations, May 8th, Port Angeles.

As part of Historic Preservation Month, City of Tacoma hosts Amazing Preservation Race through downtown, May 9th, Tacoma.

HUD hosting Fair Housing Accessibility FIRST design & construction training, May 12th, Spokane.

Washington Low Income Housing Alliance hosts 25th Annual Conference, May 13th & 14th, Tacoma.

Oregon Affordable Housing Management Association holds 2015 annual Affordable Housing Conference, May 13th to 15th, Bend.

Pacific Northwest Council of the National Association of Housing & Redevelopment Officials hosts annual conference, May 18th & 19th, Seattle.

HUD Oregon hosts Part 58 Environmental Review workshop, May 26th to 28th, Portland.

City of Tacoma hosts 29th annual Western Washington Fair Housing Conference, May 28th, Tacoma.

Preservation Idaho hosts 38th annual Orchids & Onions Award Ceremony, May 30th, Sandpoint.

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