The Habitat SKKC construction sites have been a little quieter than normal as we wrap up work on our Yarrow Cottages and Miller’s Creek neighborhoods and transition to new sites. After a brief pause, volunteer opportunities will resume on two new neighborhoods in South Park: Yarrow Townhomes and Cloverdale.
That means opportunities for our dedicated Winter Warriors to once again brave the cold for a cause!
First up, we’ll kick off volunteer participation at our Yarrow Townhomes on Wednesday, February 18. Learn more and sign up, here. The 30 new units being built here will sit next to the 26 already completed Yarrow Cottages. Our neighborhood is growing!
Nearby, we’ll launch our next South Park neighborhood, Cloverdale, on Wednesday, February 25. This new development will feature 22 homes. Learn more and sign up here.
To celebrate and thank our dedicated Winter Warriors, we recently launched the Hot Cocoa Happy Hour. The inaugural happy hour kicked off at our Southcenter Habitat Store and welcomed retail and construction volunteers to mingle and enjoy a warm beverage before starting their volunteer shift. It’s a great opportunity for volunteers from different areas of Habitat SKKC to interact with each other and learn more about each other’s work.
Next month, we’ll host the Hot Cocoa Happy Hour at our Bellevue Habitat Store. Learn more and sign up here.
Every home has a story, and as Habitat SKKC celebrates our 40th anniversary in 2026, we’re excited to share the stories that have shaped the past four decades. Throughout the year, we’ll be highlighting legacy family stories from across our history – stories of partnership, resilience, and hope that remind us why this work matters.
Joanne W. remembers the dinner from her first night in her Habitat home. After a long day of unpacking boxes, no furniture set up and no cutlery in sight, she and her three kids ate a simple meal from the taco truck at the end of the block. The food itself, quesadillas for the kids and a burrito for Joanne, was delicious, but what Joanne recalls most about the family’s first meal there was a feeling of peace and relief at finally being home.
Joanne’s life looks a lot different than it did when she moved into her three-bedroom home in Overlake in 2018, and much different than she would have imagined twenty years ago. The struggles and triumphs that she and her children have experienced led her to a place she now refers to as her “forever home.”
Joanne grew up on Mercer Island and stayed local for higher education: a BA in business from the University of Washington and an MBA from Seattle University. She married, had a well-paying career in sales and marketing, moved to the Bay Area and back and eventually bought a house in Bellevue with her then husband. Her life shifted course when she was diagnosed with multiple sclerosis (MS) in her late twenties and even more so when her husband left her soon after their third child was born.
After the divorce, she and her kids moved into a rental home. After a number of years there, the house was falling apart: a leaking roof, no heat because the furnace broke, and black mold in the walls. The rental home was sold to a builder who was planning to tear it down and build a new house. The rent was about 90% of Joanne’s income and with her spousal support having ended, she could no longer afford to live there.
Right before they were forced to move out in 2017, her caseworker at the social services agency Hopelink, told her that even with her limited disability income she would probably qualify to purchase a home from Habitat for Humanity. They were homeless for nine months before moving into their Habitat home in 2018, sleeping in motels, crashing at their relatives’ homes, and even camping.
“My kids’ anxiety was super high when we didn’t have stable housing, and maybe that was partially my fault. They could sense my anxiety over not knowing where I was going to live,” Joanne explains.
Once the family settled in, Joanne noticed a change in her kids right away: “They were happy to have their own beds and their own place to call home. Having that stability was so important for them.”
Celebrating birthdays and holidays in their Habitat home was integral to returning to a sense of normalcy. The year before, when they were experiencing homelessness, they didn’t have a Christmas tree. They celebrated at Joanne’s sister’s house, but it wasn’t the same as previous holidays. During the first year in their new house, they celebrated Christmas at home with their gifts under the tree. This celebratory feeling extended to other holidays: Joanne’s children love Halloween and started decorating for it in August that year.
During that memorable first year, the family adopted a dog, Daisy. They helped a family out that wasn’t able to keep Daisy in their apartment because dogs weren’t allowed. Joanne adds, “We were thrilled to offer Daisy a safe home full of love and relieved that we didn’t have to obey any landlord rules that said, ‘No Pets.’”
In addition to the fun activities that came with homeownership, Joanne focused on some of the important work too: Knowing that her children’s disabilities might cause frustrations for her neighbors because they couldn’t follow rules easily, she immediately got involved in the HOA. She quickly became HOA president, a position she held for several years.
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When they first moved into their home, her children filled it with chatter and activity. Now that her two oldest kids have moved out, she’s easing into the transition to a quieter home. Though she’s approaching an empty nest, the seven years she has spent in this home so far are filled with memories to keep her company even as her children leave one by one in search of their first homes.
Her oldest son, now 22, has cerebral palsy and autism. He is living in a group home that provides him with community and 24/7 care. It’s close enough that Joanne can visit him frequently. Her second son, age 20, now works at an Amazon warehouse and has moved into his first apartment in Seattle. Her youngest, a daughter, is at home and finishing high school. In 2025, she was one of only three kids in Bellevue awarded a scholarship from the city for a full ride to any public college in Washington. She wants to be a costume designer and plans to enroll at Lake Washington Technical College and eventually the Seattle Fashion Academy.
After a transitional year in which her two sons moved out and her father passed away, Joanne can’t help but think of the future and what she’ll leave behind: “I want to pass this home to my daughter so she can have stable housing as well, and not have to go through what I went through. I was looking to buy a home when I was 25 and I could afford a home at that time with my job. Not today, unless you have a million dollars sitting in the bank. How do people afford a place to live? My hope for the future is to have security for my kids.”
The past shaped Joanne into the woman she is today, and her kids’ future feels full of hope. Here in the now, Joanne is content to sit outside on her patio—her favorite place at home—and enjoy a cup of coffee in the morning. It’s a simple pleasure, but one that she enjoys fully. After years of hardship that tested her resiliency, everyday moments like a meal with her kids or a quiet moment to herself are well-deserved celebrations.
Click below to watch Joanne featured in our 2019 Beyond the Build Luncheon video.
We’re excited to announce that construction has officially been completed on Yarrow Cottages! The cottages are located directly next to Yarrow Townhomes, where concrete was recently poured. Together, the Cottages and Townhomes will create the Yarrow Village featuring 56 affordable homes with parking.
Located in Seattle’s vibrant South Park neighborhood, Yarrow Cottages feature:
26 homes: These 2-bedroom and 1.5 bath homes range from 870 – 930 square feet.
Each unit comes with one assigned parking spot
The neighborhood has proximity to South Park Community Center, library, and schools. It’s next door to Marra-Desimone Park and Marra Farm P-Patch
This project is part of our ongoing commitment to creating abundant affordable housing across King and Kittitas Counties. These homes will be added to our portfolio of permanently affordable units through our land trust model, ensuring permanent affordability for future generations. If a homeowner chooses to sell their home, Habitat SKKC ensures the home remains affordable for the next income-qualified buyer.
Yarrow Cottages was a volunteer build site, where the community and homeowners built side by side. The project was kicked off at the 2023 Women Build and served as the one of the main volunteer sites for numerous affinity builds, including the 2025 Women Build, 2025 Pride Build, 2025 Interfaith Build, and 2025 Veterans Build.
Senior Site Manager Rocky Hernandez reflects, “One of my favorite memories is when the homeowners did their first family build day. We all came together, they got a full orientation, and then we walked them through the layout for their homes and showed them how to do their sweat equity and what they were going to be doing. I want to thank my team for all their work with the volunteers and homeowners. This neighborhood wouldn’t be possible without them.”
With 16 homes closed during the first phases of the project, many people have already moved into the neighborhood. Meet some of the residents of Yarrow Cottages: Mother and daughter Jessica and Ella and their neighbors, married couple Alexandra and Lan.
We expect to close three more homes this month and the rest between February-April. Applications are currently open for the final 10 homes. Learn more and apply here.
This year, Habitat for Humanity Seattle–King & Kittitas Counties (Habitat SKKC) celebrates 40 years of creating solutions to the regional housing crisis through permanently affordable homes and critical home repairs.
Habitat SKKC has grown from a pair of small grassroots affiliates into a leader in affordable housing across Washington state. It began in 1986 with the founding of Seattle Habitat and Snoqualmie Valley Habitat (later renamed East King County Habitat). Over the years, the Seattle, South King County, and East King County Habitat affiliates merged and strengthened their regional impact. With the addition of Kittitas County Habitat in 2020, Habitat SKKC became the mission-driven nonprofit it is today. While the organization has evolved, Habitat SKKC remains focused on our mission to build strength, stability, and self-reliance through shelter.
We have a lot to feel proud of in our first 40 years. We have constructed or renovated 458 homes and completed 650 home repairs, serving more than 2,600 individuals and families. Today, 76% of Habitat SKKC homeowners still live in their homes, with an average tenure of almost 14 years (three years longer than Seattle’s 11-year average). Our work has been made possible thanks in no small part to our dedicated donors and volunteers. We have mobilized over 600,000 hours of volunteer support on build sites, Habitat Stores, advocacy initiatives, and more. Our advocacy work has resulted in 87 landmark housing policies and $4.35 billion in public funding for affordable housing across the state.
And we’re not done! Recent landmark projects include Liberty Commons, a 58-unit condominium building on Martin Luther King Jr. Way South in Seattle, currently the largest single-building multi-family project in Habitat for Humanity’s history, which we’ll complete this year. We will also celebrate the completion of 40 homes in Burien this spring at our Miller’s Creek neighborhood, a signature event of Habitat for Humanity’s annual Home is the Key campaign.
“The housing crisis didn’t emerge overnight, and it won’t be solved overnight, but 40 years of impact shows what’s possible when communities commit to solutions,” said Brett D’Antonio, CEO of Habitat SKKC.
With an additional 257 homes in our construction pipeline through the end of the decade, Habitat SKKC stands ready to build on its legacy and serve approximately 200 families each year by 2029. By constructing more and better homes and transforming housing policies, Habitat SKKC will continue to work toward its vision of a world where everyone has a decent place to live.
There will be opportunities throughout the year for our community to join us in celebration. Anniversary festivities include benefit concerts, dedications of the Miller’s Creek and Liberty Commons neighborhoods, the Beyond the Build luncheon, and a panel on the future of affordable housing. We will also share stories from families impacted by affordable homeownership throughout our 40-year history. Details on events will be released throughout the year on the Habitat SKKC website and our social media.
In celebration of this milestone, we are also creating a time capsule to capture the stories and moments that have defined our community. We encourage our supporters to contribute photos and written reflections that highlight their connection to Habitat SKKC. Anyone can participate by sharing a favorite photo from a Habitat experience, writing about a memorable moment, or describing what homeownership means to them. Submissions can be emailed to connect@habitatskc.org with the subject line “Habitat Time Capsule.” Selected contributions will be included in the time capsule, which will be sealed this summer and opened on Habitat SKKC’s 60th anniversary in 2046.
Thank you to our entire community for helping make 40 years of impact possible. The generosity, partnership, and belief in the power of affordable homeownership have shaped every home, every family, and every future we’ve helped build. This milestone belongs to everyone who has supported this work over the past four decades.
Ruthi E. has worked as an English professor at Central Washington University for close to 40 years. The job brought her from her native Portland to Ellensburg, where she and her ex-husband bought a house that she jokingly refers to as a “hodgepodge of code violations.”
In her spare time, Ruthi sings in the choir of the Ellensburg Methodist Church, where she has been a member for 30 years. She also gives back through volunteer work at the church’s clothing bank, where they accept and organize donations in a free clothing store that the church runs. She also volunteers with Central Washington Justice for our Neighbors, an organization that serves the local immigrant population. When not giving back to her community, Ruthi enjoys reading and maintains a weekly dinner with friends every Wednesday night.
It was at one of these dinners that Ruthi’s friend mentioned Habitat SKKC’s repair program: “I have a friend who has her finger on the pulse of what’s going on in Ellensburg, and she told me about this program, and it sounded too good to be true. I’m so grateful to that friend that every time we meet on Wednesday night, I buy her dinner.”
Ruthi and her ex-husband bought their home, a fixer-upper, in 1990. The original house was built around 1886, and the previous owners kept adding to it in the ’20s and ’30s. She explains, “It was in bad shape, but my ex-husband had been a contractor, so he fixed it up considerably and then built an addition. It’s an interesting, rambling little mess.”
One of the features of her home in dire need of repair was the side porch, which was sagging and crumbling. “It looked absolutely horrible, and it was scuffed and squishy,” adds Ruthi.
The wooden part of the deck that leads to the concrete steps “sagged like the Dickens” because it had been walked on for so many years and it wasn’t built very well to begin with. Habitat SKKC’s Repair Team rebuilt the whole porch in a week, including putting in foundations for it. The work didn’t stop there: We replaced an outdated and unsafe wall heater, fixed live wires hanging down in the attic, and brought in an arborist to clear out branches from the yard.
“I can’t believe I got all this. That would have cost me a fortune. I couldn’t afford it in a million years,” Ruthi reflects with gratitude.
Ruthi is a grandmother and loves that her grandchildren live only a few blocks away. She refers to her eldest grandson Baxter as a “raccoon” because he is always scavenging and bringing items back to grandma’s house. “Every time he comes over, he wants to go to the Habitat Store,” she says. He has already laid claim to grandma’s porch, added a desk he found, and turned it into his workshop. Most recently, he built a potato cannon using a Pringles can.
She is happy to share the space with him, especially now that it’s safe for everyone to walk on. The newly repaired porch gives them renewed access to an important part of the house, one where Ruthi can enjoy some quiet time outside and Baxter can work on his latest engineering projects.
