Note: the deadline has for submitting applications has passed.

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Due to the origins of this funding, this grant is open to Seattle based groups and organizations

Contact: Please review the information below thoroughly. For questions and information, contact Karen Toering Fund Consultant at [email protected]. If you have additional questions, schedule a call with Karen.

There will be two online info sessions for this grant.

Info session 1: July 22, 12 – 1:30pm PST

Info session 2: August 3, 6:30 – 8pm PST

What you’ll need to complete this application

1. Read the information on this page thoroughly, paying special attention to the eligibility requirements and 6 key results areas.
2. Download and fill out the 2021 DTAT Project Timeline Template, 2021 DTAT Project Budget Template, and 2021 DTAT Diversity Chart Template. Once complete, upload them in our Grants Portal, where you’ll complete the rest of the application.
3. Download the DTAT Scoring Rubric to reference as you work on the application.
4. Begin your application via our Grants Portal. The RFP information in the portal is the same as the information on this page.

Basic Information

Grant Timeline

• Application Open: July 12
• Application Deadline (EXTENDED): Monday, August 23, 5pm PST
• Info sessions 1 and 2
• Eligibility Review: TBA
• Committee Member Review: TBA
• Site Visits Notification: October 2
• Site Visits: October 23 – November 19
• Final Decisions Announced: Week of December 10

Grant Amount: variable $250,000 – $1,000,000 maximum

Description: The Displaced Tenants’ Fund offers one time grants to support innovative models of affordable housing and capacity building strategies in line with the fund’s values and six key result areas: Affordability, Community Ownership, Tenant Enfranchisement, Disability Justice, Housing for People Who are Houseless, and Environmental Justice.

The Displaced Tenants Fund for Housing Justice & Affordability (Displaced Tenants Fund for short) is a partnership between the Displaced Tenants for Accountability & Transparency (DTAT) and Social Justice Fund Northwest (SJF). The fund seeks to increase high quality, affordable, accessible, environmentally sustainable, and community-controlled housing for low-income tenants in the city of Seattle. We are currently inviting proposals from community-led efforts to create and maintain affordable housing as well as groups developing strategies for community control of land and housing that align with the values and key results ares of the Displaced Tenants Fund.

Grant Types

Applicants can submit up to one proposal per category. The maximum that nay one applicant can receive across all categories is $1 million.

• Capital Grant 1: New and Existing Affordable Housing Development (up to $1 million can be requested)
  • Capital level funding for new development projects that create affordable housing.
  • A capital project is defined as one that leads to the creation or renovation of the built environment.
• Capital Grant 2: Maintenance and Rehabilitation (up to $500,000 can be requested)
  • Capital level funding for maintenance, rehabilitation, or acquisition of existing affordable housing projects.
  • Eligible uses: Displaced Tenants Fund capital grants are intended for projects that already have site control. Funds may be used for land acquisition costs as well as construction costs related to the rehabilitation, renovation or creation of housing projects.
• Capacity Building: Pre-Development & Community Ownership (up to $250,000 can be requested)
  • Capacity level funding for projects in the pre-development phase that model community-led strategies and strengthen community ownership over land and housing.
  • Capacity building projects are defined as ones that increase an organization’s ability, skills, or experience to successfully create development projects that specifically model and strengthen community ownership of land and housing and can help create inclusive, participatory, and sustainable economies built on locally-rooted, broad-based ownership of place-based assets.
  • Eligible uses: Capacity building grants are intended to support development projects that do not yet have site control and/or have expenses related to community engagement and accountability processes that need financial support. For example, funds can be used to hire consultants, conduct research, or pay for staff time to lead accountable and effective community engagement processes and participatory design processes, etc.

Eligibility

• Eligible projects must be based in and benefit communities in the city of Seattle.
• Applicants must be a 501c3 organization or fiscally sponsored by a 501c3 organization. 
• Eligible projects will address at least three of the six key result areas listed below.
• If you are applying for capital funds, Housing Affordability for Low-Income Tenants should be one of the three key results areas your project addresses. 
• If you are applying for capacity building funding, Community Ownership of Land and Housing should be one of the key results areas your proposal addresses.

Six Key Results Areas

Eligible projects will address at least three of the six key result areas listed below.

1. Housing Affordability for low-income tenants: Create or maintain long-term affordable housing in the city of Seattle for those making between 0-45% of Area Median Income.

2. Community Ownership of Land and Housing: Institutionalize democratic control of land and housing, support racially and economically inclusive ownership and access to place-based assets, and/or support cooperative land and housing activities. Examples may include but are not limited to: limited equity cooperatives, community land trusts, resident owned communities, land banks, and community benefit agreements.

3. Tenant Enfranchisement: Employ models of tenant leadership and tenant enfranchisement in decision making, building management, and governance of land and housing activities, including the day to day governance of affordable housing communities. Examples may include but are not limited to: resident councils, tenant-led boards, cooperative management structures, and tenant-landlord agreements that institute structures of accountability to tenants.

4. Disability Justice: Provide affordable, accessible, and supportive housing for people with disabilities and people who are aging. In particular, design affordable housing using a disability justice framework and centering leadership from people with disabilities in the planning and design process, decision making, and governance of such housing. Examples may include but are not limited to: universal design, community integration, and co-housing models.

5. Housing for People who are Houseless: Quickly and effectively provide transitional and long-term supportive housing for people who are houseless and center leadership from currently and formerly houseless people in the planning process, decision making, and governance of such housing.

6. Environmental Justice: Provide innovative environmentally sustainable design and emphasize accountability, democratic practices, equitable treatment, health and wellness, and self-determination for communities of color and low-income communities who are disproportionately affected by environmental racism. Sustainability here refers to implementation of known or innovative strategies for energy and water efficiency, building design and placement relative to the surrounding community, selection of high-quality, low-carbon footprint materials and building techniques, etc. An environmental justice approach would include sustainable design that goes beyond just concern for conservation and impacts on the natural or built environment to also includes design choices that increase the health and wellness of the people in the community and the environments in which they live and play in a culturally competent manner.

Core Values

Affordability: We value creating and maintaining high quality affordable, low-barrier housing for households making between 0-45% of the Area Median Income, including for people transitioning from being houseless, community members who are formerly incarcerated, and those with eviction records.

Democracy & Equity: We believe solutions to displacement and the lack of affordable housing must be lead by and accountable to those most impacted by housing displacement, specifically communities of color, immigrant & refugee communities, poor communities, people with disabilities, LGBTQ communities, houseless communities, and the formerly incarcerated.

Lasting Impact: We value projects that make systemic change and provide long-term community benefits. We support innovative projects that can serve as models for replication.

Accessibility & Disability Justice: As housing for people with disabilities is under threat, we believe that more housing should engage and take leadership from people with disabilities in the decision making and design processes and go beyond the minimum requirements for ADA accessible units to provide universal accessibility, customized design, supportive, and truly affordable housing for people with disabilities.

Tenant Leadership: We support affordable housing in which low-income tenants have leadership and decision making power in the design process, oversight of housing management, and governance of their housing communities. In addition to supporting housing that employ models of tenant leadership and enfranchisement, the Displaced Tenants Fund is committed to modeling tenant leadership in the grantmaking process of this fund.

Fund Origins and History

In 2013, a private developer bought two affordable housing apartment complexes in north Seattle and began to transform them into market rate units. As eviction proceedings began, many of the low-income tenants in the buildings organized to prevent their displacement with the support of the Tenants Union of Washington. Although the tenants were ultimately unable to stop the evictions, they formed lasting bonds in their activism and created the Displaced Tenants for Accountability and Transparency (DTAT).

DTAT filed a lawsuit against the developer and won a multi-million dollar settlement in 2015. As part of the settlement, the money is designated for supporting affordable housing activities in the city of Seattle. DTAT partnered with SJF to create a Donor Advised Fund with the settlement money now known as the Displaced Tenants Fund for Housing Justice & Affordability.

Previous cycles of the Displaced Tenants Fund distributed funding to support community based affordable housing development, education, and community organizing efforts. You can read more about the recipients of the first two rounds of funding here and here.

*Ready? Begin your application in our Grants Portal.*

Don’t forget to download and fill out the 2021 DTAT Project Timeline Template, 2021 DTAT Project Budget Template, and 2021 DTAT Diversity Chart Template. You will be asked to upload them to the Grants Portal to complete your application. You should also download the DTAT Scoring Rubric to reference as you work on the application.