Spokane Housing Authority to Celebrate “50 Years of Service”

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(Spokane, WA – May 27, 2022) – This week, Spokane Housing Authority (SHA) is pleased to announce an event commemorating SHA’s 50 years of providing affordable housing to the community.

Originally established by the City of Spokane in 1972, SHA was founded to address citizen concerns and improve housing conditions within City limits. SHA expanded to serve a larger area, including the balance of Spokane County; as well as Lincoln, Pend Oreille, Stevens, Whitman, and Ferry Counties. Over the past half-century, SHA has grown from just a few units of public housing in the City of Spokane to more than 6,000 households enrolled in affordable housing programs across Eastern Washington.
Pamela Parr, SHA’s Executive Director, states, “Our 50th anniversary would not be possible without the dedication of generations of employees and community volunteers on SHA’s Board of Commissioners. Their commitment and contributions from partner organizations are critical to our ability to provide housing opportunities in our region.”

SHA operates the third-largest US Housing and Urban Development (HUD) Housing Choice Voucher (HCV, or “Section 8”) program in the state, and manages a large portfolio of affordable housing communities. Year after year, HUD ranks SHA a “High Performer” for excellence in HCV quality and service.

Besse Bailey, SHA’s Board Chair and Mountain West Bank’s Senior Vice President and Commercial Lending Manager, affirms, “We know affordable housing is a crucial element of any thriving community and that stable housing is transformational. A home is not just built on a foundation; it is the foundation that supports every other opportunity. The SHA team is dedicated to ensuring our community has access to safe, healthy, affordable homes for many years to come.”

SHA will celebrate its 50th anniversary by hosting a “50 Years of Service” open house event at their new headquarters, 25 W. Nora Ave., Spokane, WA 99205. All are welcome to attend the open house on Wednesday, June 8, 2022 from 1:00 p.m. to 4:30 p.m. A ceremony with remarks from local leaders will be held at 1:30 p.m. and office tours will be available after the ceremony.
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Landlord Incentives Cohort Program Admission

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(Spokane, WA.) 2/4/2022 – On January 27, 2022, Spokane Housing Authority received notification from the Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) of its selection for admission into the Landlord Incentives Cohort of the Moving to Work (MTW) Demonstration Program. Executive Director Pam Parr reacted to the notification stating, “This is a big win for the communities we serve. The application process was tough, with only 28 other agencies being selected to participate nationwide. We are thrilled that SHA will have access to the key strategies and flexibilities offered through the MTW Demonstration Program.”

Shared in HUD Seattle Regional Offices newsletter on January 27th, “As Moving to Work marks 25 years, we are pleased to announce the latest cohort of local housing authorities that will join this program to test new housing strategies,” said HUD Deputy Secretary Adrianne Todman. “These agencies have put forth impressive plans to further support housing choices for people in their communities, including innovative ways to engage landlords, who are critical partners in delivering HUD’s rental assistance program.”

The MTW designation provides statutory and regulatory flexibility to participating public housing agencies under three statutory objectives.  Those three objectives are: to reduce cost and achieve greater cost-effectiveness in Federal expenditures; to give incentives to families with children whose heads of household are either working, seeking work or are participating in job training, education or other programs that assist in obtaining employment and becoming economically self-sufficient; and to increase housing choices for low-income families.

This Landlord Incentive Cohort of MTW is designed to test and evaluate the impact of incentives offered to landlords when they choose to rent to individuals and families with voucher rental assistance. SHA’s MTW application plan includes ideas such as vacancy payments, pre-qualifying unit inspections, new and welcome back bonuses, and bonuses for landlords renting units to voucher participants in areas of opportunity. While SHA is required to test the specific landlord incentives, an MTW designation also provides a 20-year contract allowing SHA to utilize other statutory and regulatory flexibilities to design and implement innovative local housing solutions.

In the next few weeks Pam and her staff will begin to negotiate the specific MTW contract with the Department of Housing and Urban Development and start community outreach activities to gather ideas and feedback about the specific landlord incentives to be implemented.  For more information about MTW programs, please go to www.hud.gov/MTW.

SHA’s mission is “To collaborate to create and sustain quality affordable housing options that support people to have better, healthier, and more satisfying lives.”

You can also connect with SHA at www.spokanehousing.org or on Facebook.

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