As the need for affordable homes grows across Washington’s King County, local community-based organizations seek to learn more about affordable housing development to prevent displacement in their communities.

In response to the need, Enterprise partnered with the King County Department of Community and Human Services and Communities of Opportunity to deliver an eight-part training series, Navigating Affordable Housing Development Process for Community-Based Organizations. Held from September to December 2024, the training was designed to help nine Black, Indigenous, and People of Color-led and serving nonprofits from South and East King County make informed decisions to lead or partner on affordable housing development effectively.

Through a combination of peer-to-peer learning, personalized technical assistance, and foundational teaching from local experts, the training aimed to help cohort members better understand what role their organization could play.

Topics covered during the series included:

  • Affordable housing 101
  • Tax credit and financing
  • Development team roles
  • Community engagement
  • Partnerships and requests for proposals
  • Fair housing
  • Operations and management
  • Alternative models to Low-Income Housing Tax Credits
Group giving presentation

The training culminated in the nine cohort members presenting their vision of a project they plan to advance. Some are actively moving ahead on their first development, while others are exploring ways to support affordable housing through service provisions such as food banks, community clinics, women’s health, and economic development training. Each organization finished the series with a strong and clear understanding of next steps, demonstrating the training’s effectiveness at building resilience and upward mobility for their communities.

Congratulations again to all the cohort members on successfully completing the training series! We look forward to seeing these projects advance from vision to completed developments with homes and supportive services.

Pacific Northwest
Preservation and Production