Building a Brighter Future
Affordable housing investment creates a better future for all, ensuring equal opportunities to thrive.
Housing costs have skyrocketed in the past decade, the supply of affordable homes has decreased, and current market trends are making the situation worse.
Many working families with modest incomes are living just one emergency away from eviction.
It’s expensive to build new housing where we need it most—close to transportation, jobs, and schools.
A 2023 WA Dept of Commerce report finds that WA needs to add 1.1 million homes over the next 20 years to keep pace with population growth and more than half of those homes need to be affordable for low-income individuals and families.
Evergreen Impact Housing Fund (EIHF) ensures the financial feasibility of large-scale affordable housing developments with family-size units near transit, jobs, and services.
It counteracts market distortions with patient, low-cost capital.
Our funding complements established financing structures to significantly boost the production of affordable housing.
Through our partnership with the Washington State Housing Finance Commission (WSHFC), EIHF encourages Black, Indigenous, and People of Color developers and community-led developments to generate wealth and housing for working families.
“The Evergreen Impact Housing Fund shows how private capital can fill critical financing gaps and allow public money to do more. We are proud to partner with EIHF and their investors”
Advisory Board
Faith Pettis
Partner at Pacifica Law Group with decades of experience serving as bond counsel and outside counsel to state and local governments, schools, and nonprofits.
Lisa Vatske
Division Director, Multifamily Housing and Community Facilities, and WSHFC with decades of experience coordinating resources in affordable housing development.
Greg Johnson
Co-CEO of Wright Runstad & Company with decades of experience developing and managing high-quality commercial office buildings and mixed-use properties.
Steve Walker
Executive Director, WSHFC with a 30+ year career leading public sector agencies focused on affordable housing and community development.
Mark Dean
A 40-year affordable housing financing specialist, served 22 years as Managing Director and Head of Production at Citi Bank’s Community Capital division.
Kris Hermanns
Chief Impact Officer at Seattle Foundation with 25+ years of experience in nonprofit leadership advocating for equity, opportunity, and strategic philanthropy.
History
The Task Force’s research found a lack of patient, flexible capital for large-scale developers. The Task Force performed extensive research and crafted a model that would allow private investors to participate in the development of more affordable housing for the region. The Task Force recommended the establishment of a social impact investment fund that would incentivize developers to build affordable housing.
The Mayor of Seattle assembled a committee chaired by Greg Johnson and Faith Pettis to carry out the Task Force recommendation. They approached the Seattle Foundation in 2017 about developing this impact fund and the Foundation agreed to provide support.
The Task Force Chairs agreed to be part of EIHF’s initial advisory group and have been a source of consistent support for the Fund ever since.
The development of EIHF was spurred by Seattle’s 2014 Housing Affordability and Livability Task Force, which was charged with making recommendations to increase the supply of affordable housing in the Puget Sound.
