By Lindsay Goes Behind
Housing is a Human Right. According to a 2022 YouGov survey, 78% of Americans across political parties and ideological divides believe housing should be a basic human right. Here in Seattle, most of us share that belief as well. Every day, we see the consequences of a housing system that fails to support everyone, and our city’s livability suffers. A joyful, just, and prosperous region starts with a housing system that includes us all.
When Seattle Foundation launched its strategic plan last year, we announced that we would deepen our efforts through three key Impact Initiatives: Affordable Housing, Transit-Oriented Communities, and Equitable Childcare. Why? Because community leaders and housing experts told us clearly: we must show up and actively engage in this work, and all three of these cross-cutting issues, if we want to live in a region where everyone can thrive.
Creating a housing system that is affordable, healthy, and sustainable across all income levels is a complex challenge. Success depends on advancing three interconnected strategies: expanding supply, ensuring stability, and providing subsidies.
- Expanding supply involves increasing the overall housing stock and implementing policies that support affordable development. This includes zoning reforms, streamlined permitting processes, and incentives for builders.
- Ensuring stability means protecting renters and homeowners from displacement through measures such as rent stabilization, tenant protections, and anti-eviction policies.
- Providing subsidies addresses the gap between what people can afford and what housing costs. This includes rental assistance programs, income-based rent models, and tax incentives for developers building affordable housing.
The path toward a just and thriving region demands bold, multi-faceted solutions, and Seattle Foundation has answered that call. We’ve raised and committed more than $50 million to affordable housing initiatives and related grantmaking across the region. And we have learned that no single strategy can solve the housing crisis.
To that end, we are:
Providing investments that fill critical gaps in the development of affordable housing.
Current financing options for affordable housing are a fragmented mix of public and private sources, each with its own limitations. To help fill critical gaps, Seattle Foundation helped to launch and currently manages the Evergreen Impact Housing Fund (EIHF). This fund supports deeply affordable housing developments like The Aries—a community-focused project that gives essential workers, families, and those priced out of the market a chance to live near transit, schools, and jobs.
The Aries is more than just a housing development; it’s a model for what’s possible when philanthropy and public investment prioritize people and the power of place. By offering stable, affordable homes, it opens the door to generational change—children growing up with security, parents building wealth, and communities growing stronger.
Investing in Systems Change Through Advocacy, Research, and Policy Reform
Policy work is at the heart of our strategy to create a more just and equitable housing system. While direct investment in affordable housing is critical, lasting change requires shifting the systems that shape how and where homes are built. That’s why we commit over $1 million each year to advocacy, research, and policy reform efforts that advance housing-friendly legislation and equitable development.
Through grants and partnerships with organizations like Futurewise and the Housing Development Consortium (HDC), we’re supporting important reforms to land use and housing policy across the region. These grantee partners have helped secure major wins, from strengthening Washington’s Growth Management Act to advancing rent stabilization measures.
These policies pave the way for more affordable housing near transit, protect renters from displacement, and create new pathways to homeownership for communities historically excluded from building generational wealth. Through initiatives like the Complete Communities Coalition, Futurewise and HDC combine technical expertise with grassroots leadership to help shape Seattle’s 2025 Comprehensive Plan.
Advancing Narrative Change to Reframe Housing as a Shared Societal Good, Not a Commodity
Changing the way we talk about housing is essential to changing how we build, invest in, and value it. That’s why Seattle Foundation supports narrative strategies that shift public perception and center community voices. In a region as abundant as ours, we believe in, and are committed to, building a future where everyone has a safe place to live, grow, and belong.
We work to elevate stories, leadership, and media platforms that help us reimagine what’s possible across Greater Seattle. One such platform, The South Seattle Emerald, recently published an article titled Housing and Homeless Service Providers Face Challenges Amid Federal Funding Cuts, which shed light on the mounting pressure facing Seattle’s affordable housing system. The piece highlights how federal funding reductions—from programs like the Low-Income Housing Tax Credit, Section 8 vouchers, and Medicaid—are already destabilizing housing for thousands, including formerly homeless residents, low-income tenants, undocumented individuals, and people navigating recovery or mental health crises.
Providing everyone with a safe, healthy home is a complex challenge, but one we must meet with urgency and purpose. As millions of new residents move to the Puget Sound region over the next 25 years, we have a choice: allow inequality to deepen or build a future rooted in inclusion and opportunity. We are choosing the latter. In partnership with organizations large and small, we are committed to strengthening the core pillars of an equitable housing system, ensuring current residents can stay and thrive, while welcoming new neighbors with dignity.
The need for action has never been clearer. An affordable, stable housing system is the foundation of a just and thriving society. It strengthens families, supports local economies, and builds resilient communities. This is about more than a roof over one’s head. Safe, healthy, and affordable housing is a human right. It is a cornerstone of justice.
Join Seattle Foundation in supporting solutions and policy changes so everyone in our region has a safe and affordable place to call home.
You Can Help Shape the Future of Affordable Housing. Here’s How:
- Give to Seattle Foundation’s Core Grantmaking Programs to support impactful, community-driven solutions.
- Make a grant from your Donor-Advised Fund to support frontline organizations advancing housing justice.
- Share this blog to raise awareness about the urgent need for systemic change.
Together, we can ensure Greater Seattle is a place where every person and every family has the opportunity to flourish.