The Washington Low Income Housing Network, incorporated in 1993, is a nonprofit organization that promotes the development and preservation of affordable housing for low-income people through information exchange, policy monitoring and analysis, public education, advocacy, and leadership development. It is a broad-based diverse statewide coalition representing nonprofit housing developers, shelter and service providers, housing and homeless coalitions, low-income tenants, local governments, housing finance entities, communities of faith, and other concerned groups and individuals.

In addition to federal and state housing and development budget and spending issues, we do occasional alerts and mobilization around other federal issues including fighting back the move to limit the ability of non-profits to lobby and defending the Community Reinvestment Act. We are currently in the middle of the 2000 legislative session. We are working on two tenants rights bills that will likely pass their house of origin within the next few days. One bill would require mobile home park managers become certified through a course on the mobile home landlord tenant act and other legal requirements. Another bill would require better notice to tenants of Section 8 buildings before their owner opts out of the program.


Background

Through information exchange, policy monitoring and analysis, public education, advocacy, and leadership development, the Network strives to be an effective leader in promoting community-based change for affordable low-income housing through strong relationships with local, state, and national partners, inclusion and empowerment of people with low income; education of communities and decision makers, and an active grassroots network for policy advocacy. Many of the low-income tenants that have been engaged in our network have e-mail, however many do not. None have fax machines.

The Network expected to increase the number of people and organizations we could include in our advocacy network. We also expected to improve the quality of information products we produce including educational brochures and analysis of state and federal housing policies. We also expected to have a web page and thereby communicate with others seeking information about low income housing through the web.


Level of Innovation

Purchasing Three New Computers: Our computers were old and of limited use. In some cases we could not run the most current software and all of the computers were very slow. We purchased a Macintosh PowerBook G3 and two Power Macintosh G3�s. The PowerBook is tremendously useful when staff travels around the state. We maintained one of our original computers a Macintosh Quadra 630.

Networking Office Computers and Improving Internet Access: We purchased a hub and networked the office computers. This allows us all to access our large database of contacts and share document files easily. This has helped to increase efficiency within the office and decrease confusion regarding most current contact information of members and others. The hub also allows us all to access the Internet at the same time, a very useful time saving tool. Much of our work is dependent on electronic communications and we no longer have to schedule and coordinate interment time.

New Database Software: We purchased File Maker Pro database software and hired a consultant to design a new database for us. We maintain about 4800 contacts around the state in this database. The database interfaces with our e-mail program allowing us to keep large current e-mail groups for distributing legislative alerts. Before converting our database, we would update information in our database as well as our e-mail address books. We also tag contacts by area of interest and type of organization. We use this information for policy advocacy and provide the list to other groups with similar goals. For example we are currently providing a list to Washington State for use in outreach for updating their Consolidated Plan. We can also more easily maintain membership and contributor information.

Purchased New Telephone System: Our current telephone system is an enormous improvement over our old system of two line phones. We no longer miss calls and we can conference in other staff members. In addition to the new phone system, we added a new internet line thereby increasing our capacity to talk to people on the phone and connect to the internet.


Measures of Success

We have had some difficulties including our high speed modem not working with our regular phone line and our database program not interfacing with our broadcast fax program. We maintain the database on our office-mate?s IBM compatible computer of Section 8 properties, which is sometimes awkward. We did not upgrade our monitors and keyboards and one of our original computers. Three of our original four monitors have failed us. The original computer that we continue to use houses our accounting software, but it runs this software slowly, frustrating our bookkeeper. A conversion to IBM computers would have required an enormous amount of data entry time and training of the staff. We therefore chose to continue to use Macintosh computers, which occasionally limit our ability to share information from certain software programs with other groups. And. unfortunately, we have not succeeded in designing a web page.

Given financial constraints, the Network chose appropriate technologies. Our successes in the 1999 legislative session resulted from many factors. Our improved communications technology helped us more effectively mobilize supporters. We more efficiently inform and mobilize constituents to be involved in public policy development. We are also more visible throughout the state. The system upgrades enormously enhanced our capacity to involve more people from around the state in public policy advocacy. We communicate with more people more regularly. We are very happy with the equipment and the technological tools we now have.

Over 400 individuals and organizations now receive our weekly legislative alerts during the state legislative session. Of these, over 200 receive the alerts via e-mail, about 100 via broadcast fax, and about 85 through postal mail. This grassroots advocacy network helped us secure a 43% increase in capital funds for low-income housing during the 1999 legislative session. The state allocated .7 million in capital funds for housing in the 1997 - 1999 state biennial budget. Last year we secured million in capital funds for housing for the 1999 - 2001 biennial budget. In addition last year, we secured a property tax exemption for low-income non-profit owned housing. This exemption will help to lower rents, improve social service provision, and finance new low-income housing units.

We now use the Internet to advocate for improved administrative policies and to engage stakeholders in discussions about solutions to housing problems. For example, our Washington Coalition to Preserve Section 8 Housing, communicates by e-mail and a monthly conference call. This group devises strategies for preserving federally assisted housing including outreach to owners, and participating in setting policies for HUD programs. When HUD implemented a new program that increased rents for some of this housing in exchange for a five year commitment from the for-profit private owner to stay in the program, the Coalition helped market the program to eligible buildings around the state. As a result Washington State preserved 13 projects through the program.

We have worked with a group of mobile home tenants about 45 miles from our offices in Seattle. We have set up a system of sending our alerts by e-mail to four of their members who then distribute the information by a phone tree to residents of about 20 mobile home parks. We also conducted briefings on state policy for other community groups during the interim session. We me with the Benton Franklin Housing Network, Mason County Continuum of Care group, Tacoma-Pierce County Coalition for the Homeless, Puget Sound Council of Senior Citizens, Housing Task Force of the Aging and Disability Services Council, the Cowlitz-Wahkiakum Housing Advisory Committee, the State Independent Living Council, and the Seattle-King County Coalition for the Homeless. Dozens of organizations and individuals were added to the alerts system through these meetings.

The Washington State legislature meets from January to March or April. During the interim session in 1999, we greatly expanded our outreach to tenant groups around the state through briefings on legislative issues and providing technical assistance. Network staff has met with about 10 tenant groups in different areas of the state. This outreach has led to a large increase of low-income people receiving our alerts and participating in state legislative advocacy. We now have about 70 low-income individuals on our alerts system, compared with about 12 last year.


Lessons Learned

It took us much longer to convert the database than we anticipated. The conversion required many hours of data entry. The consultant needs for designing the database and networking the office were not anticipated. In both cases we were fortunate in finding volunteers to at least partially donate their services. However, with volunteers we were reliant on their time lines and both the networking and the database design took longer than we had hoped.


Next Steps

We may purchase a new computer in late 2000 or in 2001. We hope to purchase broadcast fax software that interfaces with our database program. We hope to have our web page designed and maintained by June, 2000. We plan to continue our new focus on including and expanding the number of low-income tenants in our advocacy network.


[This is one of six nonprofit project evaluations supported in part through OMB Watch's Nonprofits' Policy and Technology (NPT) 1998 Nonprofit Technology Pilot Projects for effective use of technology in public policy activities.]