Habitat SKKC staff joined more than 450 advocates from 44 states in powerful conversations with lawmakers focused on key issues in affordable housing at this year’s Habitat on the Hill (Feb. 11-13, 2025). This year’s conference theme, “Voices in Action, Building Toward Our Vision,” reminded us of our collective work for abundant affordable housing—and the important steps that we can all take next to continue building momentum.
Alongside our colleagues from Habitat affiliates from across the country, we stepped into congressional meetings and urged lawmakers to support the Homeownership Supply Accelerator: an innovative federal policy concept to make homeownership a reality for hardworking families nationwide. As envisioned, the accelerator would be a new source of financial assistance to spur the construction of starter homes across the U.S. According to the World Economic Forum, 2.8 billion people around the world lack access to decent affordable housing, making this initiative more important than ever. The Homeownership Supply Accelerator marks a critical step toward increasing housing affordability nationwide.
We also encouraged funding for the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development for two critical programs. The Self-Help Homeownership Opportunity Program (SHOP) is a federal initiative that aims to increase homeownership opportunities for low-income families while encouraging community involvement and personal investment in the homebuilding process. The HOME Investment Partnerships Program (HOME) is a federal assistance program that provides grants to fund a wide range of activities aimed at creating affordable housing for low-income households.
While in D.C., we had the honor of meeting with Senator Maria Cantwell (WA) to discuss the immediate need for affordable homeownership solutions. Now that we’re back in Washington state, we feel a renewed sense of urgency for the work ahead. This is where our community of supporters can join us: Take action by asking your policymakers to invest in affordable homeownership now.
Congratulations to Habitat SKKC CEO Brett D’Antonio, who has been selected by the Puget Sound Business Journal for their annual 40 Under 40 awards for 2025! Each year, PSBJ selects business leaders under the age of 40 who are “making an impact in business, philanthropy, and in their communities.” The 40 Under 40 program has been a highlight of PSBJ for nearly three decades.
PSBJ evaluates nominees based on their professional accomplishments, contributions to their organizations, community involvement, and leadership. To learn more and view the full list of 2025 40 Under 40 award winners, click here.
This February and all year, we honor Black history as we build equitable housing for future generations of Black homeowners.
In 2023, Habitat SKKC began a joint venture and partnership with African Community Housing & Development (ACHD), a non-profit launched in 2019 that empowers Seattle’s African Diaspora community by building culturally rooted health and housing stability in the region. In the six years since, their work providing housing and social services have expanded into many exciting projects including launching the Delridge Farmers’ Market, a market model that “prioritizes BIPOC farmers, chefs, and artisans who reflect and honor the cultural diversity of Southwest Seattle” and partnering with the WA Department of Commerce’s Small Business Resiliency Network to provide technical assistance and training to small businesses in King County.
The Office of Housing’s Rainier Valley Affordable Homeownership Initiative, created in 2023, invested $7.5 million in funding to new residential buildings in the area. Our collaboration with ACHD was awarded three out of the four projects located in the Rainier Valley on surplus land donated by Sound Transit, which will result in 65 new units over the next four to five years. The construction projects on 4865 MLK Jr. Way S., 6740 MLK Jr. Way S., and 3601 MLK Jr. Way S. are just the beginning.
Habitat SKKC’s Chief Impact Officer John Gillilan noted that our partnership with ACHD will, “provide access and prosperity for the African diaspora” in this region.
An exciting recent development in our partnership with ACHD is the selection of Alpha Sharp Development Partners Inc. (Alpha Sharp) as the contractor for 4865 MLK Jr. Way S. It’s a Black-owned, vertically integrated, for-profit multifamily real estate development firm in the Puget Sound region. Co-founders Leslie Byrd and Iyibo Jack met as students at the University of Washington, and after many years working for companies including Boeing and Hitachi Consulting, they formed Alpha Sharp in 2019. Construction Manager Tony Talton, friend and fellow UW alum, was the first staff member to join their team, and he focuses on building both their capacity and the infrastructure needed to support their rapid expansion.
Habitat SKKC’s Senior Project Manager Daniel McCune said one of the main reasons we selected Alpha Sharp for the 4865 MLK project was the team’s energy. “They balance technical knowledge with an ability to speak plainly for everyone to understand,” he said.
Alpha Sharp’s team currently manages design, development, and construction projects, including three active construction multifamily projects and five design multifamily projects. While they began their work in Tacoma, they are actively expanding their projects in Seattle. In addition to their goal of building more affordable housing units, Alpha Sharp works with many small and diverse businesses including subcontractors, vendors, and designers and empowers them through mentorship and collaboration. This model cultivates talent from diverse backgrounds and ensures future generations of diverse business leaders in the design and construction industry.
Our work with ACHD will help to decrease displacement and close the homeownership gap among Black families in the region. Much like Alpha Sharp’s work to cultivate the next generation of leaders in construction and development, our collaborative partnership also includes knowledge sharing between Habitat SKKH and the ACHD team so they can add development of affordable housing units to their core services. This will serve the community beyond our shared project in Rainier Valley. These partnerships highlight the importance of mentorship and resource sharing in ensuring that the next generation of developers and contractors are as diverse as the neighborhoods where they build.
Our Habitat Stores—four nonprofit home improvement retail locations in Auburn, Bellevue, Southcenter, and Ellensburg — are integral to Habitat SKKC’s model. The revenue generated from selling new and donated building materials, furniture, tools, appliances, and other home goods supports our affordable homeownership programs, while also promoting sustainability and offering the community a resource for affordable home products. In 2024, our stores processed more than 14,000 donations and sold more than 440,000 items, diverting 3,000 tons of materials from local landfills.
In 2025 we’re launching a four-part workshop series connecting the community with experts from the fields of home repair, organization, and decorating.
Below is an overview of our seasonal DIY Workshop series (location will rotate between our stores):
Spring (Mar. 16, 1-3 PM, Bellevue Store): Home Organization
For the first workshop this spring, we’re excited to welcome Rachel Corwin of Spruce with Rachel who will lead a seminar focused on home organization. Spruce with Rachel is a Seattle-based professional organizing service, and Rachel will bring her years of expertise working in both homes and offices to teach attendees home organization and decluttering basics.
The workshop will take place on Sunday, March 16 from 1:00-3:00 PM at our Bellevue location (13500 Bel-Red Road, Bellevue). Following the program, attendees can shop the store, including a curated selection of home organization accessories. The event is free, however attendance is limited to 50 people. Please RSVP below to save a seat at what promises to be a fun and informative session, and stay tuned for details on future workshops!
This February and all year, we honor Black history as we build equitable housing for future generations of Black homeowners.
U.S. history is fraught with racial disparities and housing discrimination. Dating back to the 1930s, the government-backed Home Owners’ Loan Corporation enacted the practice of redlining (defined by Merriam Webster as “to withhold home-loan funds or insurance from neighborhoods considered poor economic risks”). Redlining, coupled with racially restrictive covenants and urban renewal projects that decimated Black neighborhoods, created the racial homeownership gap. To learn more about the history of housing discrimination in the U.S., read Habitat International’s overview here.
Nearly a century later, families are still working to close the racial homeownership gap, and this work is done in part through coalition building between public, private, and nonprofit organizations and fair housing advocates. In recognition of Black History Month, we’re spotlighting one of our key advocacy partners, the Black Homeownership Initiative (BHI). The BHI has set a goal of achieving 1,500 new Black homeowners in South Seattle, South King County, and North Pierce County within the next five years.
The BHI has already made huge strides towards addressing historical housing discrimination. This important work began in 2021 when a group that included multiple Habitat affiliates urged Washington State’s Department of Commerce to create a study on the racial homeownership gap, with the goal that this study would also look at ways to address it. The group was formalized in 2022 as the Black Home Initiative (BHI), a network of non-profits, private companies, national, state, and local government agencies, and associations striving to increase Black homeownership in the region.
The BHI utilizes a multi-pronged approach to address the racial homeownership gap. Habitat SKKC’s work within the BHI network addresses issues like policy change, credit lending, and sustaining existing homeownership.
Ryan Donohue, Chief Advocacy Officer at Habitat SKKC, highlights, “Passing the Covenant Homeownership Act in 2023 was one of the most impactful achievements we and the BHI network have been able to accomplish so far.”
A coalition that included the Black Home Initiative alongside the Housing Development Consortium, Rep. Jamila Taylor, Sen. John Lovick, and Speaker Emeritus Frank Chopp helped pass the Covenant Homeownership Act with bipartisan support. The resulting program offers a downpayment of up to 20% of the cost of the home, or $150,000, plus closing costs for people who were historically discriminated against in Washington State.
Historically, most of the city of Seattle and the Puget Sound area had racial covenants written into their land that restricted people of color from being able to own land or property on it. The laws were prevalent and enforced by Washington State until they were struck down entirely in the 1968 Fair Housing Act. The Covenant Home Ownership Act acknowledges the state’s culpability in these actions. Now, the affected families or their descendants can qualify for the Covenant Home Ownership’s significantly enhanced down payment assistance.
The start of the state legislative session on January 13 marked the continuation of our work with the BHI on more bills that will serve to expand access to homeownership for BIPOC communities. Two bills that we support are HB 1096 (lot splitting) and HB 1299/SB 5184 (parking reform). HB 1096 increases housing options through the practice of lot splitting; it will help keep homeowners within their communities while simultaneously allowing more affordable homes to be built there. Bills HB 1299 and SB 5184 ease parking minimums for affordable housing developments.
To amplify our efforts to increase Black homeownership opportunities, we recently launched a Debt Barrier Removal Program (DBRP). Excessive debt is often an obstacle to Black homebuyers. Our DBRP aims to remove that obstacle by paying off those debts and enabling buyers to secure financing from traditional lenders. Currently, Black homebuyer applicants are only 6% of total applications, and of those, 10% are denied loans. Although Habitat SKKC has achieved a higher ratio of Black homeowners at 34%, we recognize that additional efforts are needed to support those who have been affected by historical redlining and systemic credit policies.
It will take all of us at Habitat SKKC to help the BHI empower 1,500 new Black homeowners. We have ambitious goals, but they are achievable when we collaborate as part of a larger community dedicated to expanding access to affordable homeownership.
