Housing Consortium of Everett & Snohomish County
Working Towards a Better Future
Mission
The Mission of the Consortium is to provide strategic leadership in crafting program and policy solutions to affordable housing challenges in Snohomish County.
What We Do
The Consortium is committed to increasing the supply of affordable housing in Snohomish County available to our lowest income and at-risk residents. We work on state and local housing policy and revenue sources as well as communicating regularly with our elected officials at all levels of government. Our Affordable Housing events focus on educating a wide array of stakeholders including the general public on the challenges to creating more housing and the strategies and actions needed to address those challenges.
History
The Housing Consortium of Everett and Snohomish County (HCESC) emerged from the Housing Stakeholders group, which was formed in the late 1990s by the Healthy Communities Initiative. Incorporated in 2002, HCESC is a collaborative partnership between nonprofit housing developers and service providers with local business, government, and for-profit organizations focusing on issues and needs for affordable housing in Snohomish County and throughout the State of Washington.
Highlights FY25
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We truly deepened our initiative-based work, most notably in the Casino Road area in South Everett, where our Affordable Housing Workgroup engaged local stakeholders and the community to create recommendations for the City of Everett’s Comprehensive Plan update that included both anti-displacement policies and Inclusionary Zoning policies.
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The Consortium partnered with the City of Everett in creating its Affordable Housing Solutions Plan, which helped the City identify strategies to reduce barriers to affordable housing for households earning 0-50% AMI. The stakeholder engagement that came from our engagement was created by our membership and the community at large, and helped ensure the inclusion of diverse voices and perspectives from across the affordable housing landscape.
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Our Affordable Housing Breakfast Forum Series featured a variety of topics, including a Candidates Forum, a screening of the critically acclaimed film “No Place to Grow Old”, and a dynamic session with WSU Everett on “Health and Housing”, each bringing cross-sector conversations and drawing diverse audiences.
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The addition of our Networking Mixer Series was also a huge success! The monthly opportunity for members to connect in person has created a cornerstone of connection and relationship-building within our housing community, with growing attendance and engagement each month.
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Our signature event – the annual Snohomish County Affordable Housing Conference, held in Lynnwood – brought together more than 140 attendees for a day of learning, coalition-building, and forward-looking takeaways for implementation.
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Through our work, we experienced several wins during the legislative session, most notably the passage of the Rent Stabilization Act, which is a major step forward in protecting tenants from unpredictable rent hikes that can create housing insecurity.
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Internally, we completed a strategic refresh of the Consortium’s operating goals and priorities, expanding our working groups, and updated our communications.
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We celebrated the addition of two interns to our organization, and are excited to add another full-time employee in FY26! The added capacity enhances our ability to deliver high outcomes for our members.
“It is hard to argue that housing is not a fundamental human need. Decent, affordable housing should be a basic right for everybody in this country. The reason is simple: without stable shelter, everything else falls apart.”
Matthew Desmond
Contact Us
Use this form to contact us about joining the Consortium, advocacy opportunities or affordable housing data in Snohomish County.
Please note that the Consortium does not provide housing services.
PO Box 1326 Everett, WA
425-339-1015