SEATTLE, WA – Today Representative Adam Smith (D-Wash.) visited the Southeast Seattle Senior Foundation – also known as Brighton Development Group – to see their affordable housing projects and discuss displacement and affordable housing in Rainier Valley. The visit comes after Representative Smith submitted a Community Project Funding request for $750,000 to the House Committee on Appropriations for consideration in the Fiscal Year (FY) 2023 appropriations bill to support Southeast Seattle Senior Foundation’s affordable housing and homeownership work in Rainier Valley. Rep. Smith issued the following statement after the visit.

“Rainier Valley and other neighborhoods in Southeast Seattle – an area home to many low-income communities and communities of color – are experiencing severe displacement and gentrification. I was proud to submit a Community Project Funding request for a project led by the Southeast Seattle Senior Foundation, which will build affordable housing and create homeownership opportunities in the area for BIPOC and middle-income individuals and families. This project will take meaningful action to combat and reverse displacement,” said Representative Adam Smith (D-Wash). “Today, I had the chance to meet with the Southeast Seattle Senior Foundation and visit The Arches Apartments, a complex that the foundation recently fought to keep in the hands of the community, which helped to prevent the potential displacement of residents. I am grateful for the Southeast Seattle Senior Foundation’s leadership and dedication to promote affordable housing in the Ninth District, and I look forward to continuing to support their work.”

Upon completion of the visit, Curtis Brown, Executive Director of Southeast Seattle Senior Foundation, issued the following statement.

“We greatly appreciate Representative Adam Smith's inclusion of our project to build more affordable rental and ownership opportunities for our local families. This investment demonstrates a significant commitment to addressing the displacement of communities of color in a real and tangible way by making sure every family can live in the neighborhood they desire. This funding is already helping us leverage another $400,000 from the community to buy more property and stave off further displacement. We will leverage this seed capital 10 times over and can’t thank you enough for this investment,” said Curtis Brown, Executive Director, Southeast Seattle Senior Foundation.

Find more information about the FY23 Community Project Funding Requests, including project descriptions, here.