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Pierce County proclaims May 5–9, 2025 Affordable Housing Week, cites housing gaps and past investments
Summary
Pierce County adopted a proclamation declaring May 5–9, 2025 Affordable Housing Week, citing regional homeownership disparities, the county’s comprehensive plan goals and past investments to preserve and build affordable units.
On May 6 the Pierce County Council and executive proclaimed May 5–9, 2025 as Affordable Housing Week in Pierce County, highlighting equity gaps in homeownership and the county’s work to increase affordable housing supply.
The proclamation references county planning and housing documents. It notes the 2024 comprehensive plan periodic update which, the proclamation says, plans to accommodate more than 32,000 new housing units in unincorporated Pierce County by the plan horizon, and states that nearly two-thirds of those units would be needed for households earning less than 80% of the area median income. The proclamation also lists other county strategies, including the housing action strategy, consolidated plan and a six-year expenditure and implementation plan tied to the Marine Howard Affordable Housing Act.
The proclamation cites disparities in homeownership rates: “In 2023, Black households in Pierce County had a homeownership rate 33 percentage points lower than white households, and Hispanic or Latino households had a homeownership rate 18 percentage points lower than white households,” the text reads. It also notes that since 2016 Pierce County has dedicated funding to the construction or preservation of more than 2,000 affordable housing units and that more than 2,600 affordable units are in various stages of development countywide.
Speakers at the podium included Tasha Blakesley, a Pierce County Housing Authority resident who described her path from housing assistance to homeownership and community leadership, and Amanda DeShayza, executive director of the Tacoma Pierce County Affordable Housing Consortium, who detailed a week of events and said the consortium will host panels, tours and a reception featuring County Executive Ryan Mellow as keynote speaker.
“Housing assistance isn’t just about providing shelter, it’s about providing stability,” Blakesley said, describing participation in the Housing Authority’s family self-sufficiency program and later using voucher and down-payment assistance to buy a home. The proclamation and speakers emphasized cross-sector collaboration and a multi-pronged approach to expanding affordable housing opportunities.
The council asked for continued partnership among nonprofits, funders, developers and agencies to address housing shortages and support development of affordable housing in Pierce County.
