FORKS — A $4 million, 30-unit, affordable housing project geared at sheltering the homeless, the disabled, low-income seniors and others less fortunate is springing up on Founders Way and should be completed sometime this summer.
Dick Martin, Forks building official, said the project is the largest he can recall since the early 1990s.
“As far as housing goes, this one stands out,” he said of the development of eight structures.
“This is the biggest housing project that’s going on.”
Yet to be named by Seattle Archdiocese Archbishop James Peter Sartain, the housing development is a partnership among Catholic Housing Services of Western Washington, formerly known as the Archdiocesan Housing Authority; West End Outreach Services in Forks; and the Housing Authority of
Clallam County.
The project — which is off Bogachiel Way and near Forks Community Hospital and public transportation — includes duplexes, a triplex, four-plexes and an eight-plex for housing, along with a community building.
The housing is targeted at homeless families, individuals and couples, said Pam Teitz, director of the county Housing Authority, which will manage the property developed and owned by Catholic Housing Services.
“Seventy-five percent of the units are for homeless,” Teitz said.
It will serve people now living in Forks, said Cheri Fleck, housing coordinator for West End Outreach Services, which is part of Forks Community Hospital.
Fifteen units will house individuals and couples, Fleck said, while 15 are reserved for families. Fourteen formerly homeless families are already signed up.
Some units will be reserved for veterans, Fleck said.
The need for affordable housing in the West End is “huge,” Fleck said.
“We have three emergency shelters in Forks and we have a waiting list of four to five months,” she said.
The development grew out of a grass-roots effort to provide affordable housing in Forks, Teitz said.
“Ten years ago, a group started to meet in Forks to talk about affordable housing, about what could be done to address the enormous need in the West End.”
The Catholic Church was asked to help, she said.
Established in 1979, Catholic Housing Services of Western Washington develops, owns and manages affordable housing programs for low-income families and individuals.
The nonprofit organization — a multiservice agency with an annual operating budget of about $18 million, more than 150 employees and assets of more than $190 million owned or under management —owns or manages more than 1,900 housing units at 44 properties throughout Western Washington.
“We worked with Clallam County Housing Authority and with West End Outreach to design the project,” said Rob Van Tassell, director of housing and community development with Catholic Housing Services.
“This is real typical for what we do,” he said.
St. Anne’s Catholic Church parishioners originally worked with West End Outreach representatives to get the project rolling.
They joined in partnership with Clallam County Housing Authority, which has the bulk of its affordable housing properties in Port Angeles but also owns and manages the Peninsula Apartments on Fir Avenue in Forks.
The project was designed by Seattle architect Roderick Butler and is being built by contractor M.C. Lundgren of Deer Park, who is hiring as much of a local work force as possible from Port Angeles and Forks, Van Tassell said.
It was financed through the Washington State Housing Trust Fund and the Washington State Housing Finance Commission, with assistance from Bank of America, which bought the low-income housing tax credits, Van Tassell said.
Clallam County Housing Authority will provide federal Section 8 rental assistance at the project.
________
Sequim-Dungeness Valley Editor Jeff Chew can be reached at 360-681-2391 or at jeff.chew@peninsuladailynews.com.
Managing Editor/News Leah Leach can be reached at 360-417-3531 or leah.leach@peninsuladailynews.com.