Mission and Values
Learn more about the long term-goals and core values that drive our work as the Washington Housing Alliance.
The Washington Housing Alliance changes public policy so that people of all races, ethnicities, abilities, genders, and identities can live in safe, healthy homes they can afford.
We do this through electing candidates, educating voters and decision-makers, and amplifying the voices and priorities of people and communities most impacted by housing instability and homelessness.
Mission
Vision
Our vision is an equitable and racially just Washington where each and every one of us lives in a healthy, affordable home in a thriving community of our choice.
Values
A Home is Fundamental
Like air to breathe and food to eat, safe shelter is a fundamental human need. Ensuring that need is met for each and every one of us is a collective responsibility.
Homes End Homelessness
Homelessness is caused by a lack of adequate housing. Ending homelessness is possible.
Equity and Racial Justice
We strive to be an inclusive, anti-racist organization. We prioritize equity and racial justice in our policy priorities, organizing strategies, and organizational culture.
Accountability
We are accountable to people who need affordable homes. We center those voices and build power with people most impacted by the affordable housing and homelessness crisis.
Lived Expertise
We value the expertise of people who have experienced housing injustice. We believe that better policy is created when people and communities most impacted by housing injustice lead the way in creating and advocating for solutions.
Impact
We are building a movement to achieve transformational change. While we do that, we prioritize impact by changing policies to improve people’s lives now.
As a Washington organization, we occupy unceded territory of the Coast Salish, Interior Salish, and Yakama Nation tribes, the original caretakers and inhabitants of this state who are still with us and for whom justice is yet to be realized. A plurality of our staff live and work in the Seattle area and we pay Real Rent to the Duwamish tribe. Learn about paying real rent. Our staff, board, and members live and work in communities throughout Washington (and beyond). Learn more about the land where you live and work.
Our Commitment to Anti-Racism
The affordable housing and homelessness crisis in our state, and across the United States, has the greatest impact on Black, Indigenous, and other communities of color. Just as policy decisions have created the crisis we see in our communities today; historic and current racist policies have caused these disparities. In working to root out and undo inequity in all its forms, we lead with race because racism is the foundation upon which this country was built and is still the driving cause of housing disparities. From the theft of land and forced unpaid labor of Indigenous, Black, and other communities of color, to the deliberate undoing of Reconstruction efforts, to redlining, to current laws allowing people impacted by a racist criminal justice system to be excluded from housing opportunities, examples abound. Undoing racism is foundational to our mission.