Habitat for Humanity’s newest project officially launches

Some 100 people braved frigid temperatures in Tumwater on Saturday morning, March 25, to celebrate the official launch of a new small neighborhood there.

Once completed, the Tâlícn (pronounced ta-lee-CHIN) housing development will contain 28 three- and four-bedroom townhouses, a playground and an open area that disguises an underground rainwater catchment. It's the newest project of South Puget Sound Habitat for Humanity.

Artisans Group of Tumwater designed the "Staggered Duplex" buildings which will be built to the  Evergreen Sustainable Development Standard, according to Carly Colgan, executive director of the local Habitat organization. This building performance standard "safeguards health and safety, increases durability, promotes sustainable living, preserves the environment and increases energy and water efficiency," Colgan said at the event. Each house will feature a heat-pump hot water heater, WaterSense fixtures, Energy Star-rated appliances and a ducted heat pump system that heats and cools every room. All will be two-bathroom residences.

City and county officials, residents of other local Habitat projects and fans of affordable housing joined Habitat staff in the event, including the project's "Neighborhood Sponsor," the Cowlitz Indian Tribe.

Cowlitz Tribe named the project Tâlícn,  meaning the action of helping

Clay Koch, from the Cowlitz Indian Tribe, introduced himself as a great-great-grandson of Chief Henry Cheholtz. He sang a song to welcome the first visitors to the Tâlícn project and then another to summon his ancestors to bless the ground and then release them after. 

Koch explained that his tribe's contribution came from the Cowlitz Tribal Foundation Statewide Fund, supplied by revenues earned from their ilani Casino Resort, located in Ridgefield, approximately 88 miles south of the Tâlícn development. The tribe contributed $100,000 to the project.

"We come here excited and happy to celebrate this good project," Koch said. He explained that Tâlícn in their language means help, and more specifically, the action of helping. "Tâlícn speaks to the action of helping that good work that we do with people. The interactions that we share, the boots on the ground, the hard conversations, the loving conversations that we have with each other, these are important teachings to Cowlitz people," Koch shared.

Cowlitz lesson in charity came from early dogs

Koch told a story he said came from his great-grandfather, James Cheholts, about how dogs became separated from the wolves and coyotes and became important to the Cowlitz people. The lesson was when someone comes for help, “we give them food. It doesn't matter if they're a family; it doesn't matter if they know us. Doesn't matter if they look like us. That's the Cowlitz teaching.” 

To simplify the meaning, "The lesson of the dog-wolf coyote story is when we encounter someone, we are hospitable in those ways mentioned," Koch later shared.  

OlyFed supplied grants and loans

Jennifer Arnold, Habitat board member and chief banking officer at Olympia Federal Savings, introduced the project and said, "the core of OlyFed's mission is helping more neighbors become homeowners. Because we know when you have a house of your own, transformational life outcomes become possible. Homeownership means stability, community, the opportunity to build wealth and to access capital through equity. These are the key differentiators when it comes to improving education levels, health outcomes, and our overall quality of life."

OlyFed has supplied financing for land, site and infrastructure development for Habitat projects, as well as what Arnold said are affordable mortgages for Habitat clients.

Tumwater channeled state and federal funds

Tumwater Mayor Debbie Sullivan explained that her city had invested $1.4 million into the project, including $726,000 in state grant funding, $679,000 of a federal Community Development Block Grant and $120,000 from the city itself. 

Sullivan pointed to the apartments just north of the Habitat property and said, "across [the field], behind us is low-income housing. And hopefully that many of those individuals that live in those homes as apartments can move into this as permanent housing. And so this is the way we can move people up the ladder to be able to be, [to] have stability in their lives. And so we are very proud to be partnering with this."

County needs more such projects

Tye Menser, vice chair of the Thurston County Board of County Commissioners, provided perspective about this project.

"For most of 2022, I was on the campaign trail, talking to residents in every corner of Thurston County," Menser said, adding, "when I asked voters what the most important local issue was for them, the two issues I heard over and over and over again, number one, how can we address rapidly rising rents? And number two, how can we reduce homelessness in our community, basically issues revolving around affordable housing. Those voters were not wrong about the importance of those issues."

"We know that now more than ever, our community desperately needs more affordable housing," Menser continued. "Statistics show that the state of Washington will need a million more housing units … by 2040 to meet the demands of our growing population. And we expect 51,000 of those units to be needed here in Thurston County. That's a big lift. And it can only be accomplished by efforts such as Tâlícn, which will not only add needed units, but they will be affordable units and will give people the chance to build their own personal financial wealth and path to prosperity."

Carly Colgan closed the event and said, "Today marks the beginning of a journey that will transform the lives of 28 families and leave a lasting legacy for generations to come."