A Night of Housing Solutions and Community Strength: Stacked in Our Favor

Stacked in Our Favor was a culminating community event that capped off the engagement and participatory research led by the Taproot Committee and facilitated by our Economic Development and Housing Analyst, Jose Ortuzar. The engagement and research focused on permanently affordable housing and housing affordability.

The event started with an hour of mingling with permanently affordable housing and community-centered providers, then moved into presentations. Translation support was provided in Vietnamese and Spanish for community members. Thank you to the following vendors and presenters for partnering with us on this event by sharing resources and knowledge:

• Folic Community – https://www.frolic.community/

• Homestead Community Land Trust – https://www.homesteadclt.org/

• King County Department of Community and Human Services – https://kingcounty.gov/en/dept/dchs

• White Center Solidarity – https://www.whitecentersolidarity.org/

• Habitat for Humanity Seattle & King County – https://www.habitatskc.org/

We had three presenters:

• Marisa London – Habitat for Humanity 

• Yen Baynes – Taproot committee member 

• Jose Ortuzar – WCCDA Economic Development and Housing Analyst

The presentations covered the community land trust model; upcoming housing opportunities from Habitat for Humanity; and an innovative anti-displacement model combining limited equity cooperatives with multigenerational living, allowing families to develop on their own plot. Finally, we covered what we heard over the past year of community engagement about housing, community perceptions, preferences, and design alternatives for permanently affordable homes in White Center.

A follow-up presentation with Khmer translation support will take place in the coming weeks.

Connect with us in the coming months as we continue to advocate for real solutions to displacement and secure funding to help families stay rooted in White Center using proven models like limited equity housing cooperatives and community land trusts.

Taproot White Center is a community planning committee that aims to engage neighbors and collect data on housing experiences and housing disparities in unincorporated areas like White Center. This data will be used to shape actions based on the community's priorities. The committee has met monthly over the past year and uses a results-based accountability framework to judge which housing policies are helpful, and which may sound good but are counterproductive. This effort works to address White Center's history of housing displacement and gentrification through policy change and advocacy that reflects the voices of the people living here.