Washington Housing Alliance Education Network

Like air to breathe and food to eat, safe shelter is a fundamental human need.

MISSION We change public policy so that people in Washington of all races, ethnicities, abilities, genders, and identities can live in safe, healthy homes they can afford. 

Good public policy doesn’t just happen.

VISION Our vision is an equitable and racially just Washington where each and every one of us lives in a healthy, affordable home in a thriving community of our choice. Achieving that vision requires creating equitable, anti-racist housing policy and budget investments that are scaled to meet the true need.

WHY OUR WORK MATTERS Housing is powerful. Housing helps kids learn. It helps families stay together. It helps cities and towns to welcome immigrants and refugees. It helps people with disabilities and seniors to live independently and thrive. It helps communities stay resilient.

In Washington:

• More than 31,000 people were experiencing homelessness on any given night last year.
• Almost 240,000 people in Washington are considered extremely low income. There three affordable and available rental homes for every ten families at this income level. 
• A fulltime wage of $41.11 per hour is needed to afford a modest 2-bedroom apartment. In the Seattle area, that jumps to  $51.37 per hour.
• Because of historic and current racist policy, Black, Indigenous, and other people of color are far more likely to be homeless, to be evicted, and to pay more than they can afford for rent; and are less likely to own their homes and benefit from the wealth creation and stability that often comes with home ownership.

It doesn’t have to be this way. Policy choices put housing out of reach for many. Different policies will create better outcomes. Our advocacy makes this possible. 

During the state legislative session, we have a daily presence at the state capitol, and we meet with lawmakers about solutions year-round. Lawmakers trust the Housing Alliance to bring them the most impactful solutions to the affordable housing and homelessness crisis and expect us to hold them accountable to prioritizing those solutions. Our organizing ensures that lawmakers hear from constituents during the legislative session and throughout the year. We mobilize our online advocacy network of over 22,000 people at key times to contact lawmakers in support of our policy priorities. We host one of the largest citizen lobby days in the state each year. This year over 800 people participated in our lobby day in Olympia!   

We organize with directly impacted people to ensure that lawmakers hear from people who know best how the housing crisis impacts people and communities. We have led advocacy resulting in significant progress over the last several years including funding to build affordable homes, funding for homelessness services, and protections for tenants to reduce unnecessary evictions. Last year we led the successful fight for rent stabilization and finally capped the amount landlords could raise the rent every year! This year we banned local governments from using discriminatory barriers to prevent building housing for people experiencing homelessness.

But we need to do more – the cost of housing is still rising faster than incomes. Your support will help fuel our advocacy.