In housing we trust

Hundreds of concerned citizens fanned out into our local community in the early hours of Jan. 25, counting people who are homeless. The preliminary estimate was some 8,600 individuals living in cars, under bridges, and in doorways, alleys, shelters and temporary housing — about 15 percent more than last year.

The number includes military veterans struggling to get back to normalcy, folks suffering from mental illness or drug dependency, and women escaping domestic violence.

Our local tragedy is just part of the national shame. Despite our unmatched wealth, vision and creativity, we as a country have failed to commit sufficient resources to the simple proposition that everyone should have a roof over their heads at night.

We won't end homelessness overnight, but every county in this state now has a plan to do it within the next 10 years. To achieve this goal, we need a major increase of investment dollars that produce affordable housing.

The state's Housing Trust Fund is a critical source of such money and the state Legislature can advance the cause of ending homelessness by increasing it by $100 million.

The trust fund is the state's primary response to the problem of lack of affordable housing. Since 1987, the fund, which stands at $130 million for this biennium, has supported the construction, acquisition and rehabilitation of 32,000 affordable homes in every corner of our state.

Money from the fund supports rental and homeownership opportunities for families, at-risk youth and children, senior citizens, farmworkers, and people with chronic mental illness.

Trust-fund dollars also assist low-income first-time homeowners with down payments, and help communities preserve their investments through rehabilitation of existing structures, among other benefits.

The trust fund is a proven, effective use of tax dollars. Through public-private partnerships, it leverages nearly $5 from other funding sources for every taxpayer dollar put into it.

In King County, the trust fund has been used to make prudent investments in housing for chronically homeless people. The Downtown Emergency Service Center's 1811 Eastlake and Plymouth on Stewart apartment projects combined to eliminate more than $3.5 million of taxpayer-funded expenses in local jails and hospitals by providing stable housing and support services for residents.

In addition to the thousands of homeless people in our communities, more than 250,000 Washington families lack safe, stable, affordable housing. As the mortgage-foreclosure crisis grows, that number will only get larger.

Last month, Gov. Christine Gregoire proposed adding $50 million to the Housing Trust Fund in 2008. We hope that in the current legislative session, our political leaders will build on the governor's start and add a full $100 million to the fund.

Such an investment would achieve lasting improvements in the lives of thousands of Washingtonians. Everyone in our community deserves a safe, secure place to live.