Application due date is December 4, 2023 at 11:59 p.m. PT. The Financial Coaching and Mentorship Project will provide $10 million in grants for community organizations and financial institutions to hire 45 to 50 full-time employees for two years. Each grant may not exceed $450,000. Learn more: https://www.commerce.wa.gov/contracting-with-commerce/grants-and-loans/request-for-applications-community-reinvestment-financial-coaching-and-mentorship-grant-project/
Author Archives: Angie Hong
The Planning and Predesign Capital Equity Program (PPCEP) funds planning and predesign activities for capital projects. Commerce has many programs that fund the construction of capital projects and capital projects require planning and predesign activities prior to any award being made. Planning and predesign activities are often a barrier for smaller community-based organizations and tribes. The Planning and Predesign Capital Equity Program (PPCEP) provides grants and technical assistance to smaller…
The last two months have seen so much progress in the Community Reinvestment Plan. This progress will be highlighted in the Interim Legislative Report (published and shared here by the end of the calendar year), but I would like to highlight one aspect of the great work our contractor, the Harriet Tubman Foundation for Safe Passage (HTFFSP) is doing: their public engagement and collaboration. The HTFFSP model of gathering community…
The Department of Commerce is excited to announce it has finalized a contract for the Harriet Tubman Foundation for Safe Passage to manage the Community Reinvestment Account Plan! HTFFSP has proven expertise in BIPOC-led community engagement and academic leadership that will serve to connect us with the communities most affected by the war on drugs. Their founder, Ms. Jesse Miller leads with heart as a person of lived experience with…
The Department of Commerce, in partnership with the Office of Equity and community partners, is responsible for building a plan by July 2023 to describe how funds will be invested to address racial, economic, and social disparities in communities across the state created by the historical design and enforcement of state and federal criminal laws and penalties for drug possession. These dollars will be distributed by Commerce as $100 million…
To address requirements as detailed in the 2020 ESSB 6168.127(83), the Washington State Department of Commerce convened the Hanford Healthy Energy Workers Board and provided its final report to the legislature regarding health care needs for workers at Hanford. What did the Hanford Healthy Energy Workers Board accomplish? The Hanford Healthy Energy Workers Board conducted an unmet health care needs assessment for Hanford workers and developed recommendations on how these…
Research Services’ 2021 report on nontraditional workers made several key findings about the challenges that hamper interactions between state agencies and these workers, including occupational and industry conditions, cultural and geographical factors, and the worsening of existing disparities due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
In 2018, under enacted SSB 6095, Section 1004 (10), the Department of Commerce was tasked by the Legislature to explore potential future uses of the Interbay Property located in Seattle’s Ballard-Interbay manufacturing industrial center that was being used as a readiness center by the Washington National Guard (Guard). The Interbay Public Development Advisory Committee’s Recommendations and Implementation Plan The Governor and Legislature appointed members of the Interbay Public Development Advisory…
At the close of the 2017-2018 legislative session, the Washington State Legislature directed the Department of Commerce , in cooperation with the Department of Archeology and Historic Preservation (DAHP), to initiate an inventory of unreinforced masonry (URM) buildings in Washington state, excluding single-family housing. Commerce and DAHP convened a 28-member advisory committee and contracted for a seismic study of unreinforced masonry (URM) buildings. This undertaking included inventorying and categorizing the…