About FHA

The Seattle Floating Homes Association (FHA) is a nonprofit organization that serves the interests of the FHA members and its surrounding communities. The mission of the Seattle FHA is:

To protect, preserve and promote the vitality of Seattle's historic floating homes community through education, advocacy, environmental stewardship and collaboration.As a nonprofit organization, the Seattle FHA is governed by a volunteer board of directors. The board sets the agenda for the FHA and operates within the following four guiding principles:

• To honor and preserve the history, culture and diversity of the floating homes community.
• To monitor, educate and advocate on issues of concern to the floating homes community.
• To work together with our neighbors to strengthen our sense of community.
• To encourage active participation within the membership of the Floating Homes Association.

How We Work - You Can Help!

In order to balance the workload required to maintain an effective volunteer community organization, the FHA board is currently organized into five standing committees. FHA members or community members at large are encouraged to volunteer for a committee that is of interest to you.

Join A Committee: If you are a houseboat owner or renter you are eligible to join a committe and you are without the obligation of joning the board. There is lots of work to be done and there are not enough board members to do it. Please email committee chair you are interested joining or email fha@seattlefloatinghomes.org

Legislative: Monitors legislative and political environment on all levels, from State to neighborhoods, for issues that might impact the Floating Homes Community.Chair: Amalia Walton

Board Development & Operations: This committee supports the board by assessing the knowledge, attributes and skills the board will need and recruiting individuals to meet those needs. It is responsible for orienting new board members, supporting ongoing board development and developing and maintaining a board manual. Chair: Bob Bowman. <bobbowman2@msn.com>

Environment: The FHA Environmental Committee mission is to protect and preserve our water backyard thru education, example, and activities that foster environmental stewardship. Chair: Dave Chappelle <dlchappelle@msn.com>

Safety and Security: Oversees activities that enhance our wellbeing around the Lake and Portage Bay. Fosters relationships with local police and fire departments. Manages the Dock Watch. Committee Chair: Larry Logue dockwatch@seattlefloatinghomes.org

FHA Community Relations (working title) This new committee is working to establish and foster connections between 1) the houseboat docks and the FHA and 2) the houseboat docks themselves. The committee hopes to do this by welcoming newly arrived  floating home residents, devloping communication between the FHA and the docks as well as encouraging each dock to share information with other docks. The FHA Board's intent is to stay informed of individual dock needs, to share resources and to share best practices. Chair: Marilyn Robertson isobel.rob44@gmail.com  

Communication (FHA Member Relations): This committee has several responsibilities that  are: 1) Encourage a sense of community by providing information in the FHA newsletter and the FHA web site. The new electronic emails, that, focus on events and activities relevant to the community have proved a reliable way to get breaking news to houseboaters. 2) This commitee is also responsible for collecting houseboat history as well as preserving archival materials. 3) A new sub committee: Information Technology's is to find efficient tools by which to communicate with houseboaters, to gather valuable information about the community, and finally, to assist each board member to improve their IT skills. Chair: Marilyn Robertson isobel.rob44@gmail.com

External Community Relations: 

Fund Raising/ Tour: This committee's mission is to plan the bi-annual houseboat tour, which includes locating houseboats for the tour; to promote tour and ticket sales; to find volunteers for the day of the tour; to create a ticket; to locate donors; to provide transportation to houseboats; and may other tasks. This planning begins a year in advance of the tour. Contact person: Melissa Ahlers,  melissa@lakelere.com

We are very fortunate to have two additional Board teams who ensure our financial and fashion success:

• FHA Financial Matters managed by Tom Hesselbrock   
• Houseboatique Activities managed by Judy Sarafin 

Join A Committee: If you are a houseboat owner or renter you are eligible to join a committe and you are without the obligation of joning the board. There is lots of work to be done and there are not enough board members to do it. Please email committee chair you are interested joining or email fha@seattlefloatinghomes.org

The Seattle FHA Board welcomes the suggestions of its members. If you have an idea or concern that you'd like us to address, please send email to the appropriate standing committee chair noted above or send email to: fha@seattlefloatinghomes.org