Working with generous partners in the closing weeks of 2024, STCU helped secure nearly $200,000 for critically needed workforce housing projects in Spokane County and North Idaho.
[january 27, 2025]
The grants include:
- $100,000 to Habitat of Humanity of Spokane, in support of its Women Build Program. That includes $25,000 from STCU, which was triple matched by the Federal Home Loan Bank of Des Moines, a cooperative of more than 1,200 financial institutions that provide mortgage lending (including STCU).
In addition to helping a great organization, this grant honors STCU employees who in 2024 logged more than 300 volunteer hours for Habitat for Humanity. Jessica Golladay, VP-Director of STCU Consumer Lending, serves on Habitat-Spokane’s Women Build Steering Committee.
“This grant is just one of the ways STCU supports its employees’ passion to serve their communities,” Golladay said. “Thanks to FHLB Des Moines for helping out with this critical cause that highlights and addresses the unique challenges that women face in homeownership.”
- Working through The GoWest Foundation, STCU and FHLB Des Moines teamed up again to provide a total of $73,544, including $21,772 from STCU, for two Idaho projects:
- $43,544 to the Panhandle Affordable Housing Alliance, which works to provide housing for moderate-income workers in Kootenai County, where the median price of single-family homes has more than doubled in recent years.
PAHA estimates that 80 percent of Kootenai County residents cannot afford to buy a home, and more than 40 percent cannot afford rent. - $30,000 for LEAP Housing, to go toward a six-unit workforce housing project in Priest River, called The Village at River View Ridge. LEAP is an Idaho based non-profit that works to provide access to safe, stable and affordable homes for Idahoans
"Hardworking households in our state should be able to afford housing, but it's becoming increasingly out of reach," said LEAP CEO Bart Cochran. "Thanks to STCU's key support through both loans and charitable contributions, we're making homeownership in Priest River achievable for local community members."
- Finally, the STCU’s Here for Good Foundation gave $25,000 to the Northeast Public Development Authority, supporting the Wellesley Project, an affordable housing and childcare in one of Washington’s most disadvantaged census tracts. The project aims to provide vital community services while also functioning as a catalyst for the long-sought revitalization of a larger area.
About STCU
Founded by teachers in 1934, STCU is a not-for-profit financial cooperative with more than 285,000 members, over $5.8 billion in total assets, and 39 branch locations, including three in the Tri-Cities. Its newest branch, in Moses Lake, opened in 2024.