Laying the groundwork for a new era

This year’s annual report isn’t just a reflection of what we’ve achieved, it’s a reminder of why Community Roots Housing exists. As we face a shifting political and economic landscape, the challenges ahead are real for the residents, and communities we serve. Together with residents and partners, we confront inequity to create inclusive housing and foster thriving, just communities. The commitment to this mission guided the search for Community Roots’ new leader in 2025. 

From the start, the board understood that leadership transitions of this scale don’t happen often.  And when they do happen, there’s not always a runway allowing for a thoughtful process. We approached this change with intentionality by beginning the process a year in advance; reflecting on the organization’s needs; engaging our community; and designing a search process rooted in inclusivity and honest dialogue. With Chris Persons laying the groundwork for a smooth transition, we were able to secure Colleen Echohawk as our next CEO. 

This year’s report is a bridge between eras. The stories and celebrations that follow reflect a year of change and steady progress. 

This leadership moment is significant and we’ve dedicated a section of this report to honoring Chris’s legacy. You’ll see how his leadership helped grow our portfolio, forge partnerships, and carry us to the milestone of our 50th year. We also want you to hear where we’re headed, and you’ll read directly from Colleen who looks forward and shares her vision for the future of Community Roots. The story of resilience and progress isn’t finished, and with your help, we’ll continue to write it together. Thank you for your continued support of Community Roots Housing. 

With gratitude, 

Frank

Few organizations are fortunate enough to be guided by the same leader for eighteen years. When Chris Persons stepped into the role in 2007, our city and organization looked very different. What has remained the same is Community Roots’ core value that everyone deserves the dignity of a stable and safe affordable home. Chris has helped translate that belief into action through preservation projects, new construction, and deep partnerships. When he started, Community Roots served 1,118 households. Today it’s over 2,400. His leadership has guided us through two decades marked by growth and change — bringing us to the threshold of our 50-year anniversary.

I believe his greatest achievement is shifting the type of development that Community Roots has pursued, which now aims to truly honor the community.  Some examples of this work include 12th Ave Arts, Liberty Bank Building, and Pride Place. Opened in 2014, the 12th Avenue Arts building solved many problems in one development, transforming a parking lot into a building with affordable arts space, a hub for community groups, parking for the Seattle police department and affordable apartments right in the middle of one of Seattle’s most popular, and expensive, neighborhoods.

In 2019, we opened the doors to Liberty Bank Building, which was built in partnership with Africatown Community Land Trust, Byrd Barr Place, and Black Community Impact Alliance, and honors the history of the first Black-owned bank in the Pacific Northwest. These community partnerships resulted in 86% of the residents being African American and the building becoming home to three Black-owned businesses.  

In 2023, we opened Pride Place, Washington State’s first LGBTQ+ affirming affordable senior housing project. The building is also home to a community center operated by GenPride that helps address the higher rates of poverty, illness, and isolation that LGBTQ+ elders face.  

These are just a few of Community Roots’ new projects that were placed into service during Chris’s tenure. Over just the past year, Community Roots placed 311 new affordable homes into service in the greater Seattle area. Taken together, these milestones tell the story of a leader that helped transform the organization into a durable, community-rooted beacon of affordable housing in the region. 

On behalf of the board, I want to thank Chris Persons for leading with integrity and with a deep commitment to the communities we serve. His leadership has positioned us to meet the moment together with residents, staff, and community at the center. As we turn the page and start a new chapter, we are excited to partner with Colleen Echohawk to carry his legacy forward while she creates her own. 

Frank F Alvarado III
Chair of the Community Roots Housing PDA Board of Directors 

White Center HUB and Canopy Apartments 

Completed in the fall of 2025, Community Roots and the White Center Community Development Association (CDA) brought a long-envisioned, community-led project to life: the White Center HUB and Canopy Apartments.  

Like the rest of the region, White Center has experienced rising housing costs and limited construction of new affordable, family-sized apartments. After years of community engagement by the White Center Community Development Association (CDA), a vision to combat displacement took shape. The community wanted to establish a family resource center and an affordable housing complex in the same location to help anchor and meet the needs of its residents. 

In 2017, Community Roots and the White Center CDA joined forces to bring that vision to life in the built environment. In 2024, they broke ground on the project, with Community Roots serving as the owner and operator of the housing development, and the White Center CDA leading the HUB and managing its tenants and programming. After nearly a decade in the making, the project reached its last milestone when the campus opened in November 2025. 

Located on the site of a former food bank and public health center, the White Center HUB creates a place of “Hope, Unity and Belonging.” The HUB will be home to Southwest Youth and Family Services, HealthPoint, FEEST, and the YES! Foundation. It includes a coffee shop, recording studio, event hall, commercial kitchen, and maker’s space, all surrounding a playground at the center of the plaza. 

Next door to the HUB are the Canopy Apartments which offer one- to four-bedroom apartments to households earning between 30% and 60% of the area median income. The housing complex adds 76 new, affordable apartments in the neighborhood, 59 of which are family-sized with two to four bedrooms. Together, Canopy and the HUB demonstrate how deep-rooted partnerships can build a place with, for and by the community where residents and families can grow, thrive, and belong.

Constellation Apartments

In King County, an estimated 16,868 people were experiencing homelessness in 2024. Almost 1,800 of those were young people ages 12 to 24. Today, youth are forced navigate a fragmented network of service providers to meet their basic needs. The Constellation Center and Constellation Apartments are a response to that fragmentation: a project that combines the benefits of affordable housing, social services for under-resourced and homeless youth, and transit-oriented development. 

At the corner of Broadway and Pine in Capitol Hill, Community Roots, YouthCare, and SCIDpda broke ground in January 2025 to build a shared campus for hope and stability. Community Roots is building 84 new affordable homes with fifteen apartments reserved for youth exiting homelessness. Next to the residential building, YouthCare’s new hub is rising: the Constellation Center. With a façade modeled on the original Booth building, YouthCare’s new facility will offer education, job training, and wraparound services for at-risk youth. 

The development will provide YouthCare’s clients with a path from housing to support services and career training. Outside the Constellation Center, the apartments will increase the stock of affordable housing in the dense, walkable Pike/Pine neighborhood for people of all ages. 

Breaking ground was an important milestone, but it is only one step in the long, collective road to ending youth homelessness. When the Constellation Center and Constellation Apartments open their doors in 2027, it will stand an example of what is possible when housing and human services work together, one person at a time. 

When people ask me why I do this work, I tell them it’s because I genuinely believe in everyone’s right to a safe, affordable home. I first stepped into housing development while serving as the Executive Director of the Chief Seattle Club. I still remember the moment I saw the data showing that Native people were far less likely to be successful in affordable housing. It was heartbreaking, I felt shaken to my core, and I was overwhelmed. But it also lit a fire in me to help build housing that truly meets the needs of our communities.

This fire continues to burn and as I begin this new role my leadership continues to be rooted in something I believe deeply: that every person I meet is connected to me, and I to them. Central to this ethos is Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.’s vision of the “beloved community“ — a world where all people are respected, cared for, and treated as a beloved relative. That belief fuels my commitment to preserving dignity and expanding opportunity to our “beloved community“ through the mechanism of affordable housing. At Community Roots Housing, I am honored to serve our community and to uplift residents who deserve stability, belonging, and the chance to thrive.

I am in my first few months of service to our residents, staff and board but when I think about Community Roots five years from now, I see an organization that continues to deepen its impact. One that provides strong resident services while investing in our assets: our buildings, our staff, and our neighborhoods. I also see us building on the legacy established by my predecessor, my dear friend, Chris Persons, of forging partnerships with community-based organizations to create culturally anchored housing. Seattle deserves more projects like Pride Place, the Liberty Bank Building, and the White Center HUB — developments that reflect the strength, diversity and ambitions of our beloved community.

As we enter our 50th year, we are called to reflect on what the next 50 years require. The challenges we face today are different than they were decades ago, and the question before us is how we will rise to meet this moment with courage and purpose.

Thank you for being part of this work and for standing with us as we step into a new era. I invite you to join us — attend our events, connect with residents, and imagine the potential held within the “beloved community“ who call Community Roots home.

Colleen Echohawk
CEO Community Roots Housing

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