housing

Behind wooden and chain-linked fencing in South Tacoma, 60 brightly painted tiny homes stand in neat rows on a gravel lot. This is the home of Kingfisher Village, which opened at the end of July, is the newest tiny home community that the nonprofit, Low Income Housing Institute, has established in the city.

More than a dozen immigrants and advocates met with Washington state Gov. Bob Ferguson's policy advisers last week in Olympia. They are asking the state government to address immigrant detentions and housing issues affecting asylum seekers in the region.

There are six people running to be the next mayor of Tacoma. On Aug. 5, voters will decide which candidates will advance to the general election. Ahead of the August primary election, Tacomans had a chance to hear from five of those mayoral candidates. Community groups including Tacoma For All, Common Good Tacoma, the Tacoma Ministerial Alliance and the United Food and Commercial Workers Local 367 held a forum for candidates running to be the city’s next mayor. All candidates except Tom Ginn participated in the forum.

Family Promise of the Palouse, a homeless organization focused on families, moved its operations into a former Washington State University fraternity house.

More than three-quarters of Washington’s 42,000 homeless students aren’t sleeping outside or in shelters. They're on someone’s couch, staying temporarily with friends, relatives, or acquaintances, often without a room or a bed of their own. It's a situation known as being "doubled-up."

College-related expenses like rent and groceries are increasing with inflation, making it difficult for some low- and moderate-income families to cover the costs. Federal cuts to university research funding and concerns about state budgets could also affect how much students pay in the coming months and years.

The city of Tacoma loosened restrictions on what kinds of housing can be built in its neighborhoods. Now, people can build duplexes, triplexes and other multi-unit dwellings in areas that used to be only for single-family homes. The city’s Home in Tacoma initiative was implemented to help address the region’s housing crisis. The flexibility of more units on single lots is meant to vary the kinds of homes people can rent or buy. By doing so, the city hopes that will decrease costs.

Celina McKenney has bills to pay, and a lot of people rely on her to pay them. As co-executive of Share and Care House, a nonprofit in Pierce County that provides permanent supportive housing to over 140 people, McKenney oversees the money coming in and going out. One of the many things her organization does is pay for clients’ leases.

The Walla Walla Housing Authority closed its waitlist for Housing Choice Vouchers, also known as Section 8, earlier this month.

Affordable housing providers across the Northwest have been contending with rising insurance premiums — and, in some cases, getting kicked off their plans altogether.