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Beloved in Christ,
 
It’s been a few weeks since we had much of an update about our agreements with Habitat for Humanity and the dream of affordable housing near church. There are a few things I can share this week.
 
The Memorandum of Understanding should be signed before the end of this week. The lawyers have all agreed on it and we are just moving through the process of getting all the signatures collected. After the MOU is signed, we move directly into a period of due diligence when Habitat does the research they need to do to find out what will be required for development on the site, including soil sampling, a site survey, some community fact finding about what types of housing are most needed, and conversations with the City of Seattle about what infrastructure there is and what will be needed to support adding homes that require utility hook-ups and will all have solar panel electrical generation to the block. The goal is to have that due diligence completed so a Purchase and Sale agreement (PSA) can be signed by July 1, although it may take longer than that.
 
Once the PSA is signed, then Habitat begins assembling what they call the funding stack, which is the combination of grants and loans that will make it possible to build the homes and keep them affordable permanently. Typically, they apply for grants from both the Office of Housing at the City and from King County, the State of Washington, and any federal grants that may be available. Concurrent with applying for funding, Habitat will also apply for permits to build 34 homes.
 
The current Faithland Team from Haller Lake UMC, consisting of Carol Jaeger, Jon Daniel, and me, with help from Doug Manis and Linda Strock, as needed, has alerted the Leadership Board that the charge to find a development partner, that we were given four years ago, will be complete when the Purchase and Sale agreement is signed. All the members of the team are willing to continue serving but a new team with more members added will be created to help guide the process of design and construction. The exact members of the new team are not yet known and any interested persons should talk with a member of the Faithland Team or a member of the Leadership Board for more information. In addition to church members, it is likely beneficial to seek out some community members to be part of the new team that guides the process of building both buildings and community with our neighbors living in affordable housing.
 
In the interim, before the Faithland Team dissolves and a new team is formed, we are working on meeting with tenants in the parsonage and rental house, P Patch gardeners, other neighbors, and others who may be affected by the changes that are coming. We anticipate having more plans to share by the beginning of August and are planning a Neighborhood Open House the first Sunday of August, after worship, when we will have several things happening, among them a chance to share what plans exist by then. In addition, there will be a Camp Blessing, since Camp United We Stand will be moving in that weekend, the possibility that the Blue Angels will fly over since it’s Sea Fair weekend, and ice cream to go around for all. We hope that our congregation will plan to be present for that to welcome existing neighbors and share our hopes for new neighbors.
 
I anticipate that there will be questions about what the homes will look like, what will happen to parking, when, and how the church can configure other parts of the campus for other uses. Together with other leaders, I will try to keep track of these questions as we hear them so we can answer them when answers become available. I appreciate your patience and grace in this season.
 
Pastor Laura