Amazon reports that it has reached a milestone in its affordable housing initiative, with more than 10,000 affordable homes created or preserved across the Puget Sound region since announcing its housing commitments in 2021. The company says these investments, totaling over $900 million, will ensure affordability for 99 years and benefit approximately 22,000 residents.
Alice Shobe, director of community impact at Amazon, commented on the achievement: “When I think about these affordable homes, I see families finding stability and new opportunities. I’m grateful to celebrate this milestone with our amazing housing partners, passionate community advocates, and the local officials who’ve championed these efforts. These are solutions that will make a difference for generations to come.”
The projects span several communities. In Bellevue, Amazon committed $100 million to transit-oriented housing. In Kirkland, a partnership with BRIDGE Housing helped preserve 200 affordable apartments. Other projects include Four Amigos Beloved Community in Seattle’s Columbia City neighborhood and Connection Angle Lake with Mercy Housing Northwest in SeaTac.
In addition to housing efforts, Amazon participated in other community initiatives. Prime Video joined forces with the Seattle Seahawks and the Smithsonian Institution for the “TNF for Good” literacy event at Boys & Girls Clubs of King County’s Ballard location. Over 125 children received books from a collection of more than 1,300 during the event.
Amazon also launched its second annual Bumbershoot Gives Back campaign at Rainier Beach Urban Farm and Wetlands. Volunteers harvested crops to support food security efforts across Puget Sound; each volunteer received a ticket to Bumbershoot as thanks for their participation. Last year’s campaign collected 127,000 pounds of food for local food banks; this year’s goal is to mobilize over 2,000 volunteers to help deliver 15,000 meals—a response to ongoing regional food insecurity issues affecting one in ten Washingtonians.
During Amazon’s fourth annual Global Month of Volunteering (GMV), more than 7,600 employees volunteered at over 580 events throughout Puget Sound—working alongside more than 220 organizations on park cleanups and meal preparation activities.
Beryl Tomay, VP of Amazon Transportation said: “We are grateful for the opportunity to be part of the ‘Keep Bellevue Beautiful’ initiative. Our volunteers’ efforts reflect Amazon’s commitment to the communities where we live and work.”
A recent AWS Tech Touchdown event brought together middle and high school girls at Virginia Mason Athletic Center in Renton for an interactive experience connecting sports with technology through cloud-powered stations.
Julia White, AWS chief marketing officer said: “It was an awesome and inspiring day at the Seahawks Training Facility. Helping these talented young women see themselves in both sports and STEM was incredibly rewarding.”
David Zapolsky from Amazon joined Seattle Mayor Bruce Harrell as well as developers Great Expectations and Urban Black at the groundbreaking ceremony for Acer House—a new development providing affordable homes and retail spaces made possible by a $12.6 million loan from Amazon’s housing fund.
Mayor Harrell announced a combined $1 million investment by Seattle city government along with The Asian American Foundation (TAAF) and Amazon aimed at improving safety and economic vitality within Seattle’s Chinatown-International District through programs like CID Ambassadors Program launching June 1st.
Josh Hirschland of Amazon Community Impact was named a Puget Sound Business Journal “40 Under 40” honoree for his leadership addressing food insecurity via pro bono delivery programs that have delivered over two million meals locally since launching during COVID-19 disruptions.
Other partnerships include continued collaboration between Amazon and Seattle Storm on free youth basketball clinics throughout Puget Sound neighborhoods—efforts praised by Zoë Bill from Mary’s Place: “The kids had a wonderful time and were so grateful for the experience… Opportunities like this have a lasting impact.”
Recent grants totaling $2 million will help White Center Food Bank move into a permanent facility while supporting expansion plans at Rainier Valley Food Bank—including renovations intended to create greater capacity for storage as well as space for community gatherings.
Amazon is investing another $100 million specifically into accelerating affordable housing production within Bellevue—with focus on city-supported projects near transit hubs designed to improve access to resources such as jobs or public transportation options.
Downtown Seattle is seeing increased activity attributed partly to workers returning onsite; weekday foot traffic in South Lake Union/Denny Triangle areas now reaches nearly three-quarters pre-pandemic levels according to Downtown Seattle Association data (https://downtownseattle.org/blog/downtown-economic-recovery-dashboard/). January saw almost two million unique visitors downtown—a year-over-year increase of fourteen percent (https://downtownseattle.org/).
Employees continue benefiting from commuter programs including reimbursed public transport costs and shuttle services aimed at reducing congestion across major metro areas.
