Latest news with #ShilohNewLifeApartments
Yahoo
22-05-2025
- Business
- Yahoo
11 stories highlight Pierce County's approach to address homelessness
Stories by Tacoma News Tribune journalists, with AI summarization Pierce County is working on many fronts to address homelessness, with efforts ranging from shelter funding, new affordable housing projects and eviction prevention programs. This list of stories illustrates the need to maintain shelter beds in Tacoma and the challenges of launching support programs like the street medicine team. Investments have gone into projects such as the Shiloh New Life Apartments and preserving housing at Hidden Firs, while eviction prevention and diversion funds remain in high demand. Large encampments and a shortage of shelter space show ongoing challenges, and new regional initiatives, like the national Counties for Housing Solutions program, aim to boost affordable housing for the future. The 'readiness' of the project was an incentive for the county to invest in its preservation, an official told The News Tribune. | Published April 7, 2025 | Read Full Story by Cameron Sheppard After losing a Pierce County land use hearing against the Good Neighbor Village, Spanaway Concerned Citizens have lost yet another appeal. | Published April 10, 2025 | Read Full Story by Cameron Sheppard Pierce County is one of six counties in the nation selected to take part in a national program to create a plan to build more housing in the region. | Published April 14, 2025 | Read Full Story by Cameron Sheppard The announcement comes after the county recently recording one of the highest eviction rates in the state. | Published April 16, 2025 | Read Full Story by Cameron Sheppard 'Its pretty embarrassing when we are out in the field and homeless people are asking where the $17 million [in affordable housing investments] went,' one advocate said. | Published April 30, 2025 | Read Full Story by Cameron Sheppard A Washington program helped over 1,700 youth avoid homelessness using cost-effective, flexible funding. | Published May 2, 2025 | Read Full Story by Cameron Sheppard The apartments will help low-income families and veterans find stable housing. | Published May 13, 2025 | Read Full Story by Cameron Sheppard At least one advocate worries about the direction the $1 million program is headed. | Published May 7, 2025 | Read Full Story by Cameron Sheppard With nearly 400 shelter beds at risk, Tacoma saw larger encampments cleared in the first quarter of 2025 amid increasing homelessness challenges. | Published May 8, 2025 | Read Full Story by Cameron Sheppard Facing a serious funding gap, Tacoma officials hope state grants will keep critical emergency homeless shelter services running through 2025 and beyond. | Published May 14, 2025 | Read Full Story by Cameron Sheppard The map indicates over 3,000 calls related to homelessness throughout the city over the first quarter of 2025. | Published May 16, 2025 | Read Full Story by Cameron Sheppard The summary above was drafted with the help of AI tools and edited by journalists in our News division. All stories listed were reported, written and edited by McClatchy journalists.
Yahoo
13-05-2025
- Business
- Yahoo
Tacoma church opens 60 affordable-housing units to complete decades-long vision
A Tacoma church and community leaders recently celebrated a new affordable-housing project in the Hilltop neighborhood that has been decades in the making. The Shiloh New Life Apartments next to the Shiloh Baptist Church, 1211 S. I St., offers 60 affordable housing units for low-income individuals and families, with a priority on offering units to individuals experiencing homelessness. Pastor Chavis Young told The News Tribune the church purchased the land for the apartments nearly 25 years ago with a vision to create affordable housing. 'This was birthed from the heart of Pastor E.S. Brazill, who wanted to create low-income housing on that land,' Young said. Before becoming the New Life Apartments, Young said, the land was used for a variety of purposes, including transitional housing for those exiting incarceration. He said the New Life Apartments were part of a decades-old vision by the late Brazill, who 'dreamed of creating housing on a bigger scale.' Brazill's vision was carried on by Pastor Gregory Christopher, who retired from Shiloh Baptist Church in 2023 after serving the Hilltop community for more than 20 years. Young said Christopher 'had a heart for serving' the unhoused community as he experienced homelessness earlier in his life. While neither Christopher nor Brazill was not at the church to see their vision come to fruition, Young said it was a 'blessing' to see the land where five houses once sat transformed into housing for dozens of families and individuals. The complex is composed of two separate buildings, one named for Brazill's wife, Lily, and the other named for James and Marilyn Walton — two community leaders who were involved with the church. James Walton was the City of Tacoma's first Black city manager. Shane Vestnys, a property manager for the apartments, told The News Tribune as of May 7 all but one of the units had been leased. Vestnys said one-third of the units are reserved for veterans experiencing housing instability. Veterans can be referred to the units through Veterans Affairs, and the Tacoma Housing Authority is providing housing vouchers for those individuals. Units are also available for individuals with disabilities. Many of the units come furnished, and Vestnys said a representative from a service provider is on site to assist residents with the supportive services they might need. The units are intended for individuals and families earning 30–50% of the Area Median Income (AMI). According to recent U.S. Census Bureau data from 2023, Tacoma's household AMI is $83,857. The nearly $34 million project received $5,077,566 in funding from Pierce County, $6,020,000 from the Washington State Department of Commerce, $4,444,893 through the City of Tacoma's Community Redevelopment Authority Board, and $14,458,765 in equity from the Washington State Housing Finance Commission's Low Income Housing Tax Credit. The public investments mark a region-wide push to create affordable housing stock. 'To fully meet the housing needs of current and future residents, the county needs to produce, on average, over 2,300 units per year of housing affordable at or below 50% of area median income (AMI) through the year 2044,' the county's Housing Action Strategy of 2022 found. 'Over half of these units are needed for households at 30% of AMI or below.'
