Rural Housing and Economic Development 1999 Grants

PROJECT SUMMARY: WASHINGTON

(see also Oregon for shared grant)

Swinomish Indian Tribal Council, in La Conner, WA, will receive a Rural Housing and Economic Development Grant in the amount of $150,000. The Tribe will use the funds to retain necessary planning, management and business consultant expertise in order to promote economic development on the reservation. The project will be focused upon forming a Tribal-private partnership to secure equity and construction financing for development and to develop improved management capability. These efforts will ultimately result in greater Tribal self-governance and control over its Reservation resources and will help the Tribe to achieve its long term goal of creating a strong economic base. These activities will serve the residents of the Swinomish Indian Reservation, Skagit County.

Contact Person: Nicholas Zaferatos
Grantee Address: P.O. Box 817, La Conner, WA 98257
Phone Number: (360) 466-7203

Institute for Washington's Future, in Renton, WA, will receive a Rural Housing and Economic Development Grant in the amount of $199,500 to serve the City of Ephrata and Grant County. Funds will be used to develop a hardwood plantation. Activities include: planning, research and evaluation; development of the Plantation; organization of the Farm-Worker Land Management Company; new business and Plantation Incubation; coordination and administration. It is expected that 350 new three-month, full time jobs will be created by the end of the third year, yielding wages of nearly $1.6 million. In-kind leveraging resources total $2.3 million in support of this program. Key participants include: Institute for Washington's Future, Enterprise Washington, ASPI Corporation, City of Ephrata, State of Washington, United Farm Workers of America, AFL-CIO, Grant County Economic Development Council, Washington State Labor Council, AFL-CIO, Port of Moses Lake and the American Silicon Corporation.

Contact Person: Donald W. Hopps, PhD., Executive Director
Grantee Address: 1900 South Puget Dr. Suite 200, Renton, WA 98055-4418
Phone Number: (425) 226-1909

The Department of Community, Trade and Economic Development, in Olympia, WA, will receive a Rural Housing and Economic Development Grant in the amount of $600,000 to serve several counties in central WA. This program will serve Benton, Chelan, Douglas, Franklin, Grant, Okanogan, Skagit, and Yakima Counties in Washington State. The grant will be used to design and implement a revolving loan fund program for infrastructure financing to growers, to provide technical assistance for planning and low interest financing for communities to upgrade infrastructure systems to serve farmworker developments, to help obtain building permits and licenses for farmworker housing, and to rent tents for temporary use by farmworkers. This grant has been approved with the condition that none of the funds awarded go toward the applicant's "Rent-A-Tent" initiative. In-kind leveraging and financing resources total $67,353,262 in support of this program. Key participants include: the state's Department of Health and Public Works Board, the Washington Community Development Loan Fund and Community Reinvestment Association, USDA, The Washington Farm Bureau, and the North Columbia Community Action Council.

Contact Person: Maureen Markham
Grantee Address: 906 Columbia St., SW, PO Box 48300, Olympia, WA 98504-8300
Phone Number: (360) 586-5882

Okanogan County Community Action Council, in Okanogan, WA, will receive a Rural Housing and Economic Development Grant for Oroville, WA in the amount of $196,665. In it endeavor to address the conditions of extreme economic distress, poor conditions of housing and lack of sustainability of housing projects in the community, the Okanogan County Community Action Council (OCCAC) will establish a Community Resource Center. Specifically, the Center will engage in three activities: 1) providing housing related services, 2) improving the skills and capacities of individuals for home improvement projects, and 3) building connections between and among a network of Oroville housing organizations. The project will involve 250 Oroville residents directly by improving their homes through construction classes and housing counseling.

Contact Person: James R. Martin
Grantee Address: 424 S. 2^nd Ave. P.O. Box 1067, Okanogan, WA, 98840
Phone Number: 509-422-4041

Community Health Center La Clinica, in Pasco, WA, will receive a Rural Housing and Economic Development Grant in the amount of $600,000 to expand its Self Help housing program in Grant county. La Clinica will develop 16 lots in Mattawa, purchase 8 lots in Royal City and Warden. It will then leverage funds for construction of the homes from USDA Rural Development, a private lender, the Federal Home Loan Bank and Housing Trust Fund. La Clinica's Self Help manages programs in land acquisition, resident outreach, construction and permanent financing, coordination, pre-qualification, home owner education, construction supervision, material procurement, labor management, inspection coordination, sub-contractor coordination, and post-occupancy follow up or counseling. Partners involved in this initiative include the State of Washington, through CDBG dollars, Benton/Franklin Housing Network, The Tri-City Housing Consortium, Washington Low Income Housing Network, Lower Yakima Valley Rural Enterprise Community.

Contact Person: Community Health Centers LA Clinica Guillermmo V. Castaneda or Christina Adeshakin
Grantee Address: 1517 N. 5^th Avenue PO Box 1323 Pasco WA 99301
Phone Number: (509) 546-0740

The Jamestown S'Klallam Tribe, in Sequim, WA, will receive a Rural Housing and Economic Development Grant in the amount of $117,702. Located on the Olympic Peninsula in northwestern Washington State, the tribal area has experienced severe economic distress in recent years due to cutbacks both in the forestry and fishing industries. However, the Tribe seeks to tap into the existing tourism market by using these seed support funds to analyze and report on the feasibility of a major hotel/resort/conference center project, to be built on Tribal land near an existing casino. The final result of the activities proposed will be a report which substantiates the tribe's assumption that the Resort Project is a viable economic development project. The report will enable the tribe to secure investor financing to further pursue the Resort Project.

Contact Person: Sandra Ehrhorn
Grantee Address: 1033 Old Blyn Hwy, Sequim, 98382
Phone Number: 360-683-1109

Content Archived: January 20, 2009