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April 11, 2024April 11, 2024 HomeSight

Fair Housing Month

This Fair Housing Month,HomeSight Celebrates
“The Act in Action”

April is Fair Housing Month, and HomeSight programs embody this year’s theme.

Every April, we recognize the anniversary of our country’s Fair Housing Act. Signed into law on April 11, 1968, this federal act prohibited the longstanding practices of discrimination in housing transactions. It protects people from discrimination based on race, color, religion, national origin, gender identity, sexual orientation, disability, or familial status.

HomeSight’s work is rooted in the tenets of this landmark legislation and brings the FHA’s ideals to work for Washingtonians. This year’s Fair Housing Month theme – The Act in Action – highlights HomeSight’s important work in the community. Here are a few of the programs that show how HomeSight puts the act in action every day.

 U-lex: Affordable Housing Co-op as Anti-Displacement Tool

 With beautiful, modern living conditions set next to the light rail station at Martin Luther King Jr. Way and South Holly Park Drive, HomeSight’s U-lex co-op will offer 68 units affordable to families earning 80 percent or less of the area income at the time of purchase.

“For too many Washington residents, even a so-called ‘starter house’ is too big a leap to get into the real estate market,” said HomeSight Executive Director Darryl Smith. “With a co-op like U-lex, people can start building equity at a much lower price point than you’d find in this housing market. U-lex is creating the first few rungs on the ladder, so people can start the climb to the true financial stability homeowning allows.” 

U-lex is the final building in HomeSight’s Othello Square complex, which now houses the Odessa Brown Children’s Clinic, a community-based health care provider, Verity Credit Union, Salish Sea Elementary School, and Tiny Tots Development, a provider of early childhood education. Fifty percent of U-lex units are reserved for people who have roots in this community.

 “U-lex is an intentional anti-displacement tool,” said Uche Okezie, HomeSight’s Director of Real Estate Development. “Without planned growth through projects such as U-lex, the city risks losing the communities that make Seattle so unique.”

U-lex is spelled “ʔúləx̌” in Lushootseed, the language spoken by the Coast Salish people who originally lived on this land. Pronounced ‘OH-lew,’ ʔúləx̌ means “gather” in the Lushootseed language. To learn more about U-lex, please contact Pearl Nelson or visit the website.

Field Order 15 Fund: Reparative Lending to Help New Black Home Builders — and Homeowners

This year, HomeSight and Black Home Initiative (BHI), launched the Field Order 15 Fund, a reparative lending program for Black home developers that provides upfront grant money, eligibility for low-interest lending, and technical support. The program offers a creative approach to addressing the affordable housing shortage by giving agency to stakeholders that traditionally have not had a seat at the table.

The fund’s name references General William Tecumseh Sherman’s Special Field Order 15, issued at the end of the civil war to re-distribute land to the the newly freed enslaved people, providing each family with “40 acres and a mule.” President Lincoln approved Special Field Order 15, but after his assassination his successor Andrew Johnson rescinded it, returning the land to treasonous former enslavers. Black people never received “40 acres and a mule,” or any restitution for their enslavement. The following ten decades of explicitly racist policies prevented Black people from staking a claim in an economically secure future.

“Field Order 15 Fund aims to fulfill this abandoned equity goal and HomeSight is the perfect home for it,” said Okezie, who manages the project. “As a Community Development Financial Institution, we have homeownership counseling, we do mortgage lending, we offer down payment assistance to income-qualified households, and we also build quality, affordable houses. But we are also a CDC – a Community Development Corporation – and our job there is to promote economic growth in the communities we serve. As a CDFI, a CDC, and a member of the BHI, this project pulls all our expertise, goals and imperatives together in a really unique way.”

Purchase Assistance: Halal Loans, VISTA Loans, and Sam Smith “Hi Neighbor” Fund Offer an Opportunity to Build Generational Wealth

HomeSight’s purchase assistance programs are designed to reach out to communities that were impacted by racism and unfair housing practices. HomeSight can offer first-time homebuyers a VISTA loan, which doesn’t require the borrower to have a social security number. HomeSight’s Halal loan is compliant with Sharia law, for Muslim homebuyers.

HomeSight recently partnered with Windermere Real Estate to create the Sam Smith “Hi Neighbor” Homeownership Fund, a loan product to increase purchasing power and bridge the affordability gap facing Black homebuyers earning between 80-120 percent of Washington state’s median income. The fund allows eligible recipients to borrow up to $20,000 to layer into a mortgage loan to use toward their home’s purchase cost.

This initiative was inspired by legendary Washington state legislator and Seattle City Council President Sam Smith, whose perseverance in passing the state’s version of the Fair Housing Act – the Open Housing Law – in 1967 resulted in a major, hard-won civil rights victory. The fund’s name also gives a nod to Smith’s congenial personality.

“The foundation for generational wealth building in American is rooted in home ownership, and the Fair Housing Act’s passage opened a pathway out of poverty for many Americans,” said Smith. “Fair Housing Month allows us to reflect on how far we’ve come and reminds us how much work remains. The work of HomeSight and its community partners is so important right now because that pathway to prosperity can be long and difficult to navigate. Our job is to light the way.”

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March 20, 2024March 20, 2024 HomeSight

HomeSight Affordable Housing Co-Op U-lex Will Break Ground This SummerCommunity-Led Project Will Bring 68 New Affordable Housing Units to Southeast Seattle

thefactsnewspaper.com - MAR 5, 2024

HomeSight Affordable Housing Co-Op U-lex Will Break Ground This SummerCommunity-Led Project Will Bring 68 New Affordable Housing Units to Southeast Seattle

After years of planning and development at Othello Square, HomeSight will enter the final phase of this community-led project as it breaks ground this summer on its planned co-operative housing development, U-lex@Othello Square. Set next to the light rail station at Martin Luther King Jr. Way and South Holly Park Drive, U-lex will offer 68 units affordable to families earning 80 percent or less of the area median income at the time of purchase.

HomeSight is now inviting incomc-qualified applicants to apply and reserve a unit at U-lex@Othello Square on a first come, first served basis.

Housing costs remain prohibitive to many in southeast Seattle. According to the Northwest Multiple Listing Service, the median King County home sold for $935,000 in June. A recent Seattle Times inquiry into rising housing costs concluded the salary needed to purchase a typical Seattle home is $214,000 – an 80% rise in the past few years.

While southeast Seattle is culturally rich – its approximately 75,000 residents hail from 40 distinct ethnic groups and speak over 50 languages – this neighborhood is home to the highest percentage of low-income residents in the city. The meteoric rise in housing costs places these long-time community members at high risk for displacement.

“Seattle needs affordable housing, now more than ever,” said HomeSight Executive Director Darryl Smith. “For many low- and middle-income people in Washington, even a so-called ‘starter house’ is too big a leap to get into the real estate market. With a co-op like U-lex, people can start building equity at a much lower price point than you’d find in this housing market. U-lex is creating the first few rungs on the ladder, so people can start the climb to the true financial stability homeowning allows.”

The Othello Square project is notable for its emphasis on extensive community involvement throughout the planning process. Beginning with a nine-month feasibility period in 2017, the project grew and evolved through engagement with southeast Seattle community organizations, local businesses, residents, and resident coalitions.

The first buildings in the Othello complex now house the Odessa Brown Children’s Clinic, a community-based health care provider, Verity Credit Union, Salish Sea Elementary School, and Tiny Tots Development, a provider of early childhood education.

U-lex’s five-story, mixed-use residential development will offer 25 one-bedroom units (650 sqf.), 35 two-bedroom units (860 sqf.), and 8 three-bedroom units (1015 sqf.). U-lex offers underground parking, bike storage, unit storage spaces, and each unit will be equipped with water- and energy- efficient fixtures and appliances. A large, multi-purpose area equipped with a kitchen will be connected to a central, outdoor courtyard, and sun decks and outdoor gardening opportunities will be available on the second and fourth floors.

In addition to the income requirements, applicants must be first-time homebuyers or have not owned a home in the past three years. Preference will be given to southeast Seattle stakeholders: residents, former residents, and people who work or have connections there. Fifty percent of units are reserved exclusively for this community.

“U-lex is an intentional anti-displacement tool,” said Uche Okezie, HomeSight’s Director of Real Estate Development. “Without planned growth through projects such as U-lex, the city risks losing the communities that make Seattle so unique.”

The boundaries of southeast Seattle today correspond directly to areas on the 1936 Homeowners’ Loan Corporation map for Seattle. Because people of color lived there, these areas were shaded yellow for “definitely declining” and red for areas designated “hazardous.” Overlaying this map with the Displacement Risk Index and Access to Opportunity Index maps in the city of Seattle’s 2015 Growth & Equity Report shows this legacy of redlining and racially restrictive lending covenants persists. Last year, the Washington State Department of Commerce released its report on homeownership rates for Black, Indigenous, and People of Color in Washington, which stated: “The Black-white homeownership gap is worse today than it was in the 1960s when racial discrimination in housing was legal.”

U-lex is spelled “ʔúləx̌” in Lushootseed, the language spoken by the Coast Salish people who originally lived on this land. Pronounced ‘OH-lew,’ ʔúləx̌ means “gather” in the Lushootseed language.

“As a place-based community development organization serving historically redlined and marginalized people excluded from civic and economic participation in society, our mission is to ensure those who built our neighborhoods and communities share in the benefits of its growth,” said Okezie. “Closing disparities in access to opportunity and creating generational wealth through homeownership has been and still is our focus.”

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March 20, 2024March 20, 2024 HomeSight

Women’s History Month – Sekai Senwosret

Women’s History Month

This year’s Women’s History Month celebrates women who advocate for Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion. HomeSight asked the women on its leadership team how they are working toward this goal.

Sekai Senwosret

Today, we asked Director of Resource Development Sekai Senwosret how her department advocates for DEI.

As the Director of Resource Development, my job is to ensure we’re not only talking about diversity, equity, inclusion, and belonging – but living it. We partner with funders who show real dedication to these principles. Our fundraising is clear: our mission is rooted in creating equitable opportunities for homeownership. It’s not just about finding partners who agree with us, but those who put their money where their mouth is. This commitment is key to making lasting change for the people we help. I’m proud to be part of an organization that truly makes DEI+B part of its identity in every action we take.

Q: What challenges lie ahead, and how do you plan to tackle them?

A: The main challenge for our small Resource Development team is finding ways to bring in more funds without increasing our costs or team size. I’m looking into using technology to help with this. Fundraising platforms can handle many routine tasks, almost like an extra team member. My goal is to use these tools to keep us efficient but also maintain the personal connection that’s key to fundraising. It’s all about striking a balance between high-tech and high-touch.

Q: What is the most inspiring part of your work?

A: The most inspiring aspect of my job is knowing our daily efforts contribute to a larger cause—helping people achieve something they might not have thought possible, like owning a home. Even when it’s hard to see immediate results, I’m encouraged by the thought that right now, someone could be taking a significant step toward their dream because of our work. That’s the heart of it—making a real, positive difference in someone’s future.

Q: What is your favorite quote?

A: “I always get to where I’m going by walking away from where I have been.” – A.A. Milne, Winnie the Pooh

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March 8, 2024March 8, 2024 HomeSight

U-Lex will break ground this summer

HomeSight’s Affordable Housing Co-Op, U-lex @ Othello Square, Will Break Ground This Summer

Community-Led Project Will Bring 68 New Affordable Housing Units to Southeast Seattle

After years of planning and development at Othello Square, HomeSight will enter its final phase as it breaks ground this summer on its planned co-operative housing development, U-lex@Othello Square. Set next to the light rail station at Martin Luther King Jr. Way and South Holly Park Drive, U-lex will offer 68 units affordable to families earning 80 percent or less of the area median income at the time of purchase.

HomeSight is now inviting incomc-qualified applicants to apply and reserve a unit at U-lex@Othello Square on a first come, first served basis.

“Seattle needs affordable housing, now more than ever,” said HomeSight Executive Director Darryl Smith. “For too many Washington residents, even a so-called ‘starter house’ is too big a leap to get into the real estate market. With a co-op like U-lex, people can start building equity at a much lower price point than you’d find in this housing market. U-lex is creating the first few rungs on the ladder, so people can start the climb to the true financial stability homeowning allows.” 

The first buildings in the Othello complex now house the Odessa Brown Children’s Clinic, a community-based health care provider, Verity Credit Union, Salish Sea Elementary School, and Tiny Tots Development, a provider of early childhood education.

U-lex’s five-story, mixed-use residential development will offer 25 one-bedroom units (650 sqf.), 35 two-bedroom units (860 sqf.), and 8 three-bedroom units (1015 sqf.). U-lex offers underground parking, bike storage, unit storage spaces, and each unit will be equipped with water- and energy- efficient fixtures and appliances. A large, multi-purpose area equipped with a kitchen will be connected to a central, outdoor courtyard, and sun decks and outdoor gardening opportunities will be available on the second and fourth floors.

 In addition to the income requirements, applicants must be first-time homebuyers or have not owned a home in the past three years. Preference will be given to southeast Seattle stakeholders: residents, former residents, and people who work or have connections there. Fifty percent of units are reserved exclusively for this community.

 “U-lex is an intentional anti-displacement tool,” said Uche Okezie, HomeSight’s Director of Real Estate Development. “Without planned growth through projects such as U-lex, the city risks losing the communities that make Seattle so unique.”

U-lex is spelled “ʔúləx̌” in Lushootseed, the language spoken by the Coast Salish people who originally lived on this land. Pronounced ‘OH-lew,’ ʔúləx̌ means “gather” in the Lushootseed language.

To learn more about U-lex, please visit the website or contact Pearl Nelson at pearl@homesightwa.org.

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March 8, 2024March 8, 2024 HomeSight

Plate of Nations 2024

Ready to Find Your New Favorite Restaurant? Seattle’s Most Diverse Restaurant Promotion Week is Back and Bigger Than Ever in 2024!

13th Plate of Nations highlights the unmatched diversity of the Southeast Seattle food scene.

Between March 22 and April 7, Seattle foodies can embark on a two-week culinary world tour without leaving the city, as HomeSight’s Plate of Nations returns for its 13th year of celebrating southeast Seattle’s diverse culinary scene.

The event, the most diverse of its kind in Seattle, features 50 independently owned restaurants and highlights the incredible cultural diversity in southeast Seattle, particularly along the Martin Luther King, Jr. corridor. Immigrants from around the world have settled in Rainier Valley and started businesses that provide cultural favorites for ethnic communities looking for a taste of home. Those restaurant owners are excited to welcome other customers to join in their traditions.

Participating restaurants span the globe from Laos to Ethiopia, and will offer special menu items, giveaways and prizes over the 12-day event. Customers can download a “passport” from the Plate of Nations website (or pick one up at any participating restaurant) to record their culinary trip around the world. When a diner reaches eight passport stamps, they win one of four prizes, including a private dining experience at one of our participating restaurants, and a secret recipe with ingredients.

“Southeast Seattle is so unique,” said HomeSight’s Community Development Director Sarah Valenta. “You can walk down the street and hear dozens of languages spoken. With so many cultures represented here, our food scene has choices from all over the world, and it’s all as authentic as you can possibly get.”

Visit www.plateofnations.com to learn more about participating restaurants, which include neighborhood favorites as well as brand-new establishments. Ready to find your new favorite nosh in Seattle? Join us at Plate of Nations!

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March 5, 2024March 7, 2024 HomeSight

Women’s History Month – Uche Okezie

Women’s History Month

This year’s Women’s History Month celebrates women who advocate for Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion. HomeSight has five women on its leadership team, all working toward this goal.

Uche Okezie

A first-generation Nigerian immigrant, leads HomeSight’s Real Estate Development team. With a background in urban planning and real estate development and over twenty years of experience with non-profit real estate development, Uche is not just instrumental to the success of our development work, she is – as a woman of color in a field that is almost entirely comprised of white men – giving marginalized communities a ‘seat at the table’ in our region.

Q: How does your department advocate for DEI?

A: With programs that are focused on BIPOC populations, we are using an equity lens in the work that we do especially with community members, groups and organizations.

Q: What challenges lie ahead and how do you plan to tackle them?

A: The work continues in ensuring equitable access to opportunities to build wealth, health, and positive community connections. We tackle them eyes open and head on.

Q: What is the most inspiring part of your work?

A: Helping folks get the outcome they were working so hard to achieve.

Q: Do you have a favorite quote?

A: The quote that springs to mind is: “Stay ready, so you don’t have to get ready.” I’m not sure who said it first but it’s in a song by Suga Free.

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March 5, 2024March 7, 2024 HomeSight

Women’s History Month – Sarah Valenta

Women’s History Month

This year’s Women’s History Month celebrates women who advocate for Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion. HomeSight has five women on its leadership team, all working toward this goal.

Sarah Valenta

Today, we’re featuring Sarah Valenta, HomeSight’s Director of Community Development.

Q: How does your department advocate for DEI?

A: Our department’s services are delivered by and developed for – and with – people of color.  We work directly in neighborhoods whose members have a high risk of displacement. Predominantly these are communities with low income, and low access to services. Before we start a new project or program, we run it through our REDI decision matrix to determine if it fits with our mission and values.

Q: What challenges lie ahead and how do you plan to tackle them?

A: Building generational wealth through business ownership and growth is a traditional way for people of color, immigrants, and refugees to improve their economic situation. We produce projects and programs to support entrepreneurship and business growth in Rainier Valley. The challenge lies in resources: having enough time, money, and support services – like translation services – to identify and support the specific and varied needs of each business.

Q: What is the most inspiring part of your work?

A: The most inspiring part of the work is building relationships with community and business owners, and providing direct support that improves their situation.

Q: Do you have a favorite quote?

A: “Change will not come if we wait for some other person or some other time. We are the ones we’ve been waiting for. We are the change that we seek.” –Barack Obama

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February 8, 2024February 8, 2024 HomeSight

What do you know about Special Field Order 15?

What do you know about Special Field Order 15? And how has it informed HomeSight’s new project, the Field Order 15 Fund?

A ‘Q&A’ with HomeSight’s Darryl Smith and Uche Okezie

In 1865, as the smoke from the Civil War cannons cleared, the leaders of the battered nation faced their next critical challenge: how would millions of newly freed Black Americans transition from a brutal and barbaric system of enslavement to participating in American life as free citizens?

General Sherman’s Special Field Order 15 addressed this challenge, offering a way forward that offered Black people a stake in the nation’s future. The order redistributed 400,000 acres of captured confederate land to the people who had been enslaved by Southern landowners. Each Black family would receive, in Sherman’s words, “40 acres and a mule.”

President Lincoln approved the orders, but after his assassination, Special Field Order 15, and its promise for equity and opportunity, would be reversed and buried beneath decades of explicitly racist laws that effectively and efficiently marginalized Black Americans. The country’s new leaders chose instead to carry forward the legacy of slavery, forcing generations of Black Americans to fight for every human right, and for every small piece of the American dream, in a system rigged against them.

This year, HomeSight and Black Home Initiative (BHI) revived the memory and intention of Special Field Order 15 by launching the Field Order 15 Fund. For Black History Month, Executive Director Darryl Smith and Real Estate Director Uche Okezie answered questions about the fund, its historical roots, and its anticipated impact for the future.

Why does the Field Order 15 Fund reference this moment in American history?

Darryl: We chose to reference Special Field Order 15 because we wanted this reparative lending program to fulfill this abandoned equity promise. The program provides upfront grant money, low-interest lending, and technical support for Black developers who are building affordable homes in the communities that need these resources most. We want to give Black developers a role and a voice in creating the much-needed housing for the community. We wanted the Field Order 15 Fund to ‘pick up the reins’ that had been dropped for so long, to start to fulfill Sherman’s order.

Uche: We’re taking a community-centric approach to increasing Black homeownership, giving Black builders a seat at the table and an opportunity to grow their businesses while breaking the barriers to Black homeownership, caused by this long history of unmet promises and racist barriers to affordable housing. That history started with the reversal of Special Field Order 15. There are so few BIPOC developers in our community who need and deserve an opportunity to create wealth. It helps them build their businesses, while helping to create wealth in their communities.

How does it work?

Uche: Field Order 15 provides low-interest lending and funding for Black developers, but it’s more than that. We looked at the pain points for developers: how they raised initial capital for feasibility; how they accessed low-interest, non-recourse lending. Then we used our own knowledge and experience to line up help with planning and resources. At HomeSight, we have decades of organizational experience building affordable homes, and we realized we could leverage this experience, as well as resources. We’ve seen how plans can change or city regulations can be challenging. All kinds of things can happen during a construction project. We want to set Black developers up for success to get them from ‘point A’ to construction financing. We developed the Field Order 15 Fund checklist system to help developers go step by step. It builds success into the process.

What are your goals for this project?
What issues are you hoping to address?

Darryl: We’re addressing a deeply rooted problem here, racial inequity, on several fronts. First, western Washington is experiencing a severe housing shortage, particularly affordable housing. Second, Black homeownership in Washington is staggeringly low. It’s worse today than it was in the days before the Fair Housing Act. We’ve not been doing a good enough job in the housing sector, or as a community, and we need to correct that. We hope the fund will help developers not just grow their businesses but produce up to 500 units of housing that will be available for community members to purchase, to begin their journey to generational wealth that can be passed down, and really help the community grow and prosper.

That’s really what this is all about because now, the disparity in homeownership for Black Washingtonians is about half of their White counterparts. That didn’t happen by accident. That happened on purpose because of redlining, because of racist covenants, and because opportunities for purchasing homes around the state have not been equally shared.

So we’re addressing both sides of the coin: working with Black developers to grow their businesses to produce the units that are needed, while at the same time getting folks on the path to homeownership with homebuyer education, down payment assistance, and closing cost help. If we can bring all that together, we will start to – start to – address the racial wealth divide here in Washington state. The idea of ’40 acres and a mule,’ is really about equal opportunity. It’s about creating equity.

Learn more about Field Order 15 Fund Here
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January 22, 2024January 22, 2024 HomeSight

thefactsnewspaper.com | January 16, 2024 | HomeSight, as Part of Black Home Initiative, Launches Field Order 15 Fund to Help Black Home Developers Build Affordable Homes

thefactsnewspaper.com - JAN 16, 2024

HomeSight, as Part of Black Home Initiative, Launches Field Order 15 Fund to Help Black Home Developers Build Affordable Homes

Exactly 159 years after Civil War General Sherman issued Special Field Order 15, the fund will facilitate the building of more homes for sale – and help close the racial wealth divide.

HomeSight, a nonprofit catalyst for equitable homeownership and economic opportunity, announced today that, under the auspices of Black Home Initiative (BHI), it will launch the Field Order 15 Fund, a reparative lending program for Black home developers.

The program will provide upfront grant money, eligibility for low-interest lending and technical support for Black developers who are building affordable homes in the communities that need these resources most. By strategically empowering Black developers, the Field Order 15 Fund offers a creative approach to addressing the affordable housing shortage by giving agency to stakeholders that traditionally have not had a seat at the table.

“The Field Order 15 Fund is systems change work at the granular level,” said HomeSight Executive Director Darryl Smith. “BHI was assembled to create 1,500 new Black homeowners in the next five years. We can’t do that with the inventory that’s out there. We need to get more affordable homes built, and to do that, we need to lower the barriers for the builders who are invested in this goal.”

Capital for project planning is often the first and most difficult barrier to new home construction, and the program’s upfront grant money removes this barrier. But the Field Order 15 Fund is more than a grant program. The underwriting team — which includes experts in construction lending, fund management, banking, accounting and real estate development — provides technical support using a proprietary checklist system. This checklist was developed in collaboration with the underwriting team and HomeSight’s experienced Real Estate Development team, who will guide and support builders throughout the process.

After completing the rigorous planning process, developers in the program become eligible for a low-interest pre-development loan commensurate with their project’s size. This section of the program essentially stands in for the loan application for construction financing. Because the underwriting committee will have deep knowledge about the projects in the program, they will be the first point of contact when issues arise. The goal will be facilitating wins rather than negative recourse should development challenges arise.

“HomeSight is the perfect home for this project,” said HomeSight’s Real Estate Development Director, Uche Okezie, who will manage the project for HomeSight. “As a Community Development Financial Institution, we have homeownership counseling, we do mortgage lending, we offer down payment assistance to income-qualified households, and we also build quality, affordable houses. But we are also a CDC – a Community Development Corporation – and our job there is to promote economic growth in the communities we serve. As a CDFI, a CDC, and a member of the BHI, this project pulls all our expertise, goals and imperatives together in a really unique way.”

The Washington State Housing Finance Commission, Amazon, and JP Morgan Chase are funding the project. Business Impact Northwest will provide surround-support services if a developer needs additional support or finds they are not ready for the program.

“The goal is to say yes to developers even when the answer might be ‘Not now, but after making a few adjustments, we’d welcome you to come back to the fund and continue the process,’” said Okezie.

What is “Special Field Order 15?”

General William Tecumseh Sherman issued Special Field Order 15 on January 16, 1865.

The order confiscated 400,000 acres along his famous march to the sea, which would be re-distributed the newly freed enslaved people, providing each family with “40 acres and a mule.”

President Lincoln approved Special Field Order 15, but after his assassination his successor Andrew Johnson rescinded it, returning the land to former enslavers. Black people never received “40 acres and a mule,” or any restitution for their enslavement. The following ten decades of explicitly racist policies prevented Black people from staking a claim in an economically secure future.

The Field Order 15 Fund aims to fulfill this abandoned equity goal.

About HomeSight

Since 1990, HomeSight, a nonprofit Community Development Financial Institution (CDFI) and Community Development Corporation (CDC), has worked to preserve and promote economically and culturally diverse communities through affordable homeownership, business development and community advocacy. HomeSight believes communities can only be strong, vibrant, and equitable if homeownership is attainable, cultural anchors can thrive in place, small businesses have access to the knowledge and tools to excel in changing markets, and prosperity is built and shared among all members of each unique community.

About Black Home Initiative

Black Home Initiative (BHI) is a multi-year, regional effort from Civic Commons that targets the racial inequities at the core of the housing ecosystem to increase homeownership among BIPOC (Black, Indigenous, and People of Color) households. BHI’s initial emphasis is to create opportunity for 1,500 new low- and moderate-income Black households to own a home in South Seattle, South King County, and North Pierce County within the next five years. The initiative convenes cross-sector partners who collaboratively act on local priorities ranging from homebuyer preparation to construction financing to policy reform. By centering those most affected by the work, BHI is creating a foundation for long-term systems change. The ultimate impact we seek is racial equity for everyone and an increase in intergenerational household wealth.

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