Our Mission

Our business is not just about homes

Our mission is about people and making the south Puget Sound region a great place to work for everyone. Although we own homes, it is people we truly serve.

We need to be prepared to meet the ever-growing demand for affordable rental housing. This is not a speculative enterprise but a demand-driven response to the need that is shown by state and local entities who track requests for housing. It is also driven by the over 800 requests Homes First turns away every year.

Homes First has been experiencing rapid growth as we build upon existing community housing assets. Since 2011, we added 36 new properties with 71 units of housing to our portfolio, two of which were single-family homes.

Many of our new tenants were moved directly from a shelter into their own healthy and affordable rental homes. We expect to see continued growth in 2024 and for the next several years. Our objective is to make a significant contribution to our region’s basic needs for affordable family homes.

Moving forward

In 2024, our goal is to replicate our success in our variety of housing types, both single-family and shared housing. We will provide housing that is both affordable and provides appropriate support services or case management in partnership with other community organizations.

Supportive housing is a combination of housing and services intended as a cost-effective way to help people live more stable, productive lives, and is an active “community services and funding” stream across the United States.

Supportive housing is widely shown to work well for those who face the most complex challenges—individuals and families confronted with housing instability who also have very low incomes and/or serious, persistent issues and serious challenges to a successful life.

Our community partners include:

The Housing Authority of Thurston County
Community Youth Services
Kokua Services
Mason County Therapeutic Courts
Oxford House International
Olympia Clean and Sober Housing, LLC
And of course, our local municipalities, Thurston and Mason Counties, and the State of Washington Department of Commerce