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Snohomish County housing providers and partners met with U.S. Sen. Patty Murray (D-WA) on Wednesday in Everett for a roundtable discussion about housing and homelessness funding.
The organizations present at the Feb. 18 event were Snohomish County Human Services, Cocoon House, YWCA Seattle | King | Snohomish, Domestic Violence Services of Snohomish County, Housing Authority of Snohomish County (HASCO), Everett Housing Authority and Housing Hope.
Murray recently secured a $7.2 billion increase for the Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD), protected rental assistance and programs that address homelessness and acquired millions of dollars for affordable housing projects across Washington state, according to a news release.
“It’s people like you that really make a difference,” said Mary Anne Dillon, vice president of permanent housing for YWCA Seattle | King | Snohomish. “Thank you for being a leader.”
In May, Murray also met with housing providers and partners to hear their concerns about conditions placed on HUD’s Continuum of Care (CoC) grant program, as well as President Donald Trump’s funding cuts.
HUD’s CoC program is “the largest federal program for reducing homelessness,” according to the news release. The state receives about $120 million per year, with most of it funneled to Snohomish, King, Pierce, Clark and Spokane counties.
Last March, the Trump administration told agencies who receive CoC funding they must comply with the president’s executive orders – related to topics such as immigration status and reproductive care – in order to receive funding.
Snohomish County was one of the agencies that sued the Trump administration over the potential loss of CoC funding. Washington state also challenged the administration’s notice of funding opportunity, which would cut permanent housing program funding by more than half.
Murray said that housing has always been a crisis, and that crisis has deepened in the last few years. She said she worked hard crafting the appropriations bill to keep funds flowing even if the Trump administration tries to “slow walk” them.
“As vice chair of the Appropriations Committee, in the negotiations I made it really clear housing has to be a priority,” Murray said. “There are too many people on the ground.”
Cocoon House CEO Joe Alonzo said that Murray’s work in D.C. ensured that the county’s most vulnerable members continue to get served.
“We feel really fortunate,” Alonzo said. “For Cocoon House, we had a pause on intakes for a period of time but did not have to move people out of housing.”
Debra Bordsen, CEO of Domestic Violence Services of Snohomish County, said families would be on the street if they did not continue to receive federal funding. She would have lost some staffers as well, she said.
“Stability of funding is really big for us,” Bordsen said. “Two- and three-year grants are what sustains us and keeps us going and able to plan ahead.”
HASCO CEO Laurie Olson said she is thankful that Murray found a way to provide $600 million for the federal tenant protection voucher program as it will help families stay housed indefinitely.
Sarah Smith, executive director of Everett Housing Authority, said she was also happy about the tenant protection voucher program. Although the housing authority is thrilled with the Murray-supported Transportation, Housing and Urban Development (THUD) bill, Smith said it still doesn’t adequately fund their work.
“We cannot issue new vouchers, and we cannot commit project-based vouchers. Project-based vouchers are really critical for the development of affordable housing,” Smith said.
Housing Hope CEO Kathryn Opina said she’s grateful to have a champion like Murray, and that it was scary when housing officials met with Murray last May to think about the destabilization of the homeless service system in the county.
“Funding is already not enough,” Opina said. “To take one piece of that puzzle out, it’s like a Jenga falling apart.”
Shifting away from permanent supportive housing would be devastating for an organization like Housing Hope, Opina said. Many of their residents’ lives have changed and are on a different trajectory because of this type of housing, she said.
“We need to be consistent in what we offer our residents … so they can continue to move through their path of life to the next step, to a place where maybe they don’t need permanent supportive housing anymore,” Opina said.
Dillon said HUD’s CoC program provides critical funding, especially to people with disabilities or experiencing chronic homelessness. She also shared some success stories about people who received help from YWCA Seattle | King | Snohomish.
Nate Marti with Snohomish County Human Services spoke on behalf of Department Director Mary Jane Brell-Vujovic at the Feb. 18 event. Marti said Brell-Vujovic is thankful for Murray’s consistency and commitment, and that without her ongoing pushback and leadership, it’s possible that many lives would have been negatively impacted.
Angelica Relente is a Murrow News Fellow covering housing and related issues in South Snohomish County for the My Neighborhood News Group. Contact her at angelica@myedmondsnews.com.
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