Many of you have likely heard about OPAL‘s plans to build 45 affordable rental units on North Beach Road. The property has been purchased and plans all set to go. However, the State and Federal supports that have been accessed in the past have been elusive this round, in part due to the WA State legislator’s failure to pass a state Capital Budget and to restrictions on other low income supports that knock most rural communities out of the running.
Recognizing that access to housing impacts every sector of this community, the OICF Board has voted to step up, committing $250,000 of the legacy gift that Bob Henigson gifted us. As you can read in the article in this week’s Sounder, the Board thought long and hard about this decision, and in the end felt that this gift may be what is needed to get a shovel in the ground.
In making this commitment, OICF has also begun to define an ongoing initiative process to guide future partnerships to better serve the community. Steve Jung is the chair of the new Program and Initiative Committee (PIC), and they will be meeting throughout the year to craft a good set of guidelines to ensure that this gift achieves the impact that we intend.
I’d love to hear your thoughts on this. Let me know if you have time for tea. And to all of you who served or who had family in the service, thank you.
Hilary