Saint Mark’s Cathedral, Seattle, receives $150,000 grant to develop community-based organization focused on affordable housing
The grant from Trinity Church NYC furthers Saint Mark’s vision to address and acknowledge housing injustices through engagement, education, and advocacy.
Trinity Church NYC has awarded a $150,000 grant to Saint Mark’s to develop and establish an innovative community-based asset model focused on affordable housing. The community-based organization (CBO) will guide and advance Saint Mark’s vision to realize affordable housing and cultivate a multigenerational housing community on its campus on North Capitol Hill. The grant, awarded through Trinity’s Mission Real Estate Development (MRED), will span two years through October 2027.
“Saint Mark’s has long been about the work of restorative justice and has a unique opportunity to go beyond words as the cathedral seeks to repent and repair the harm and injustice of housing disparities,” said The Very Rev. Steven L. Thomason, dean and rector at Saint Mark’s. “We are grateful for the continued support and generosity of Trinity Church NYC to help Saint Mark’s broaden its capacity to address housing disparities in restorative and reparative ways.”
Saint Mark’s is located in a neighborhood that, during the early and mid-twentieth century, was subject to redlining by lenders and restrictive deed covenants on real estate ownership that enforced racial and ethnic discrimination. Disparities in housing access and generational wealth persist in Seattle and in the neighborhood where the cathedral was built nearly a century ago.
The CBO will cultivate new leadership – a CBO Executive Director and a new CBO board with the majority of members represented by communities harmed by housing injustice. A key focus will be encouraging truth telling and acknowledging historic traumas related to housing injustices through engagement, education and advocacy with the CBO Board of Directors, Saint Mark’s Vestry and cathedral parish, The Episcopal Diocese of Olympia, neighborhood, civic leaders, and broader community.
“Saint Mark’s hope is that the cathedral’s affordable housing development can become a hub of community, support, resources, and stability for more than 100 households, including families
with children,” said Thomason. “Neighborhoods matter to the fabric and well-being of families, and Saint Mark’s, alongside the CBO, will be focused on creating lasting change in affordable housing access in an area that has experienced the historical legacy of racial discrimination on Capitol Hill.”
Through its Mission Real Estate Development initiative, Trinity Church NYC supports faith-based organizations in the United States and internationally to enhance their mission and ministry and meet the needs of the community while building sustainable financial capacity. “This is a time of great and increasing need in our neighborhoods, communities and across the world,” said Beatriz de la Torre, Chief Philanthropy Officer at Trinity Church NYC. “Trinity is dedicated to working alongside our grantee partners like Saint Mark’s who are doing remarkable and innovative work to ensure that everyone has access to affordable housing for generations to come.”
Saint Mark’s Properties LLC purchased the St. Nicholas site in 2003. The Cathedral uses a portion of the space for Cathedral programming, but the primary occupancy has been for nonprofit tenants. Saint Mark’s identified affordable housing as a strategic missional priority in 2022 and has since undertaken extensive feasibility work to assess the site. In May 2025, the Cathedral reached a major milestone in entering a Memorandum of Agreement with Redwood Housing as Saint Mark’s development partner. Learn more at www.saintmarks.org/cbo.
About Saint Mark’s
Saint Mark’s serves as the spiritual home for the largest parish congregation in the Diocese of Olympia (The Episcopal Church in Western Washington) with five worship services on Sundays, a vibrant community life with more than 80 ministry groups, and a campus used for the broader community by more than 100 nonprofits. Since 1889, Saint Mark’s has responded to the needs of a growing and changing Seattle population compelled by the love of Christ and engaged in the work of justice. The current building was never finished after initial construction plans stalled due to foreclosure after The Stock Market crash and depression. While subsequent capital projects have focused on improvements, the “incomplete” aesthetic of the cathedral has become a signature element of its character and the community that gathers in countless ways as a house of prayer for all people.
About Trinity Church NYC
Trinity Church is an Episcopal parish in New York City, founded in 1697. We work for justice, serve our neighbors, and bring people together to experience God’s love, in community.
Trinity’s outreach includes worship and faith education, charitable grantmaking, and hands-on assistance for those in need. We offer 20 weekly church services, food assistance seven days a week, support for asylum seekers, housing for the elderly and people living with disabilities, youth programs, and a wide array of free music and educational events throughout the year. The church also supports communities and ministries serving the world in Africa, Asia, and across the Americas.
With an endowment of $6 billion, Trinity has quadrupled its philanthropic giving since 2020, providing more than $200 million to almost 500 organizations.