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Seattle Youth Commission now accepting applications

June 14, 2019 by Admin NW FACTS Leave a Comment

The City of Seattle is now accepting applications for the Seattle Youth Commission (SYC), a 15-member commission of ages 13-19 that addresses issues of importance to youth. Appointed by the Mayor and Seattle City Council, youth serving on this commission work with elected officials, City staff, community leaders, and young people citywide to make positive changes through policy, organizing, and events. The deadline to apply is Monday, June 17 at 5:00 p.m.

Commissioners serve a two-year term beginning in September 2019 and ending June 2021. The commissioners meet biweekly on Wednesdays at Seattle City Hall from 4:30 – 6:00 p.m. and will have additional committee commitments. In addition, the commissioners are required to attend a half-day retreat on Saturday, September 21.

Apply Now

To apply, complete and submit this online application by June 17 at 5 p.m. Interviews for applicants will be held on July 9 and 11 from 4 – 6 p.m.

People’s Academy for Community Engagement is poppin’

June 14, 2019 by Admin NW FACTS Leave a Comment

Our People’s Academy for Community Engagement (PACE) has been “popping up” in unexpected places lately! Through the new PACE Pop-Up model, a condensed version of the program’s civics training is being made available throughout the city. PACE Pop-Ups were developed to expand access by creating a portable and free version of the training that could be brought directly to communities. It has proven to be an ideal option for residents from under-represented communities that might encounter barriers to attending the full PACE program.

The pop-ups typically happen in collaboration with other community organizations or neighborhoods. They have been hosted at neighborhood events in Little Brook and Delridge, as well as in partnership with Capitol Hill Housing, Seattle Teen Summit, Redmond Middle School, and the Seattle Youth Commission.

The most recent collaboration was with the Seattle Public Library (SPL). SPL’s Adult Basic Education Program Manager Meira Jough had heard about PACE and thought it would be a great fit for the Library’s English Learning classes. She reached out to PACE Coordinator Hilary Nichols who began building a curriculum catered to English learners and new residents. In May, PACE Pop-Ups took place in three of SPL’s English Language classes at the Central, Beacon Hill, and Northgate Libraries. The classes proved to be an excellent venue for civic education as many of the students were new to America or Seattle and came from communities traditionally under-represented in the civic process.

We recently dropped in on the PACE Pop-Up in the Beginner English Class at the Central Branch Library and met an incredibly diverse and inter-generational group of residents. In two hours, they were introduced to the basic vocabulary of civic engagement, the structure of city government, and the role that government plays in their lives. They also participated in activities that allowed them to practice using their voice to engage with local government.

Get funds to support your Night Out event

June 13, 2019 by Admin NW FACTS Leave a Comment

2017 Night Out Event at Capitol Hill Tool Library

If your neighborhood plans to participate in the Annual Night Out on August 6, Seattle Department of Neighborhoods has a fund to support your event.

The Small Sparks Fund provides matching dollars for neighborhood-initiated projects that promote community engagement. Community groups can request up to $5,000 to help fund Night Out planning efforts and activities such as outreach materials, educational fairs, and kids’ activities, to name a few.

For information on the application process, visit our website or call 206-733-9916. The deadline for applications for Night Out is Tuesday, June 25 at 5:00 p.m.

Night Out is a national crime prevention event designed to heighten crime prevention awareness, increase neighborhood support in anti-crime efforts, and unite communities. To learn more about Night Out, visit seattle.gov/police/community-policing/night-out.

Vera Njuguna joins Community Liaisons team

June 13, 2019 by Admin NW FACTS Leave a Comment

Vera Njuguna joined our Community Liaisons program team in April.

She serves as a project manager focused on coordinating community outreach and engagement opportunities between Community Liaisons and various city department projects.

Get to know a little bit more about Vera below:

Where did you grow up?
I was born and raised in Kenya and moved to Washington State in early 2000.

What neighborhood do you call home?
Belltown

What makes your neighborhood special?
Belltown has a vibrant art community, an eclectic mix of live shows and small businesses that add to the culture of the neighborhood. These qualities are especially critical to preserve at a time when residents are facing increasing displacement.

What did you do prior to joining the Department of Neighborhoods? What excited you about the work?
I administered contracts for K-12 and post-secondary investments at the Department of Education and Early Learning. I was excited to be part of a team that was working to move the needle in providing equitable educational opportunities and also work with community partners who were passionate and committed to the work!

What made you want to work at the Department of Neighborhoods?
In a growing city where the needs of the historically underserved communities continue to be a challenge, I value the Department of Neighborhoods’ approach to ensuring equitable access to government and opportunities to build community.

What’s your favorite place in Seattle and why?
Olympic Sculpture Park. I love walking the trail towards Magnolia.

What are you passionate about?
Building relationships that foster change, outdoor activities, and a good movie.

UW iSchool Capstone Project Wins “Best in Class” with Innovation Advisory Council Project

June 12, 2019 by Admin NW FACTS Leave a Comment

Congratulations to Amir Ali, Tiffany Ku and Kevin McCraney! The three students, in partnership with the Innovation Advisory Council (IAC), won the ‘Best in Class’ award for the University of Washington’s Master of Science in Information Management program’s Capstone project awards!

Their winning project, the Homelessness Data Model, was a collaboration between these students, project managers from the City of Seattle’s Human Services Department (HSD) and mentors from Tableau and Amazon. They created an automated process that complies information about homelessness in the City from HSD and several project coordinators without analysts needing to manually transfer data between sources. The Homelessness Data Model project will help experts at the City of Seattle better serve people experiencing homelessness.

This project marks the first of the IAC’s seven ‘Phase One’ projects to be presented publicly. The IAC is a group of the Seattle area’s most innovative companies committed to helping the City develop data-driven technological approaches to addressing out priority areas of homelessness, affordability, and delivery of basic services. Mayor Durkan launched the Innovation Advisory Council (IAC) on August 2, 2018 through an Executive Order. You can read more about the projects of the IAC here.

To learn more about Ali, Ku, and McCraney’s work and partnership with the IAC, please visit the University of Washington Information School’s blog.

Summer of Safety provides structured activities and a safe space for young people

June 12, 2019 by Admin NW FACTS Leave a Comment

Seattle Parks and Recreation will offer Summer of Safety (SOS), a free program that provides structured activities and a safe space for young people not connected to other supervised programs over the summer. The program is geared towards serving diverse groups of tweens and teens from low-income families.

“Seattle Parks and Recreation offers a wide variety of programs and activities that play an important role in helping to keep our communities engaged, active, and safe”, said Jesús Aguirre, Superintendent. “Summer of Safety is a crucial program during a critical time when youth are out of school and looking for activities to participate in. Our Summer of Safety program provides structured activities, a safe space for youth to interact, and meals at no cost to support diverse groups of students over the summer months. This is especially important for those who might not otherwise have access to safe, supportive and supervised environments outside of school.”

Thanks to a donation by Amazon of $250,000 to the Alliance for Education, we have been able to expand the program this year to help serve an additional 100 youth per day throughout the summer, as well as increase staffing and incorporate youth employment and a program for older teens.

SOS will operate at five community center locations on various days throughout summer (see schedule below). Most sites will provide a free lunch through the City’s Summer Food Service Program. Regular SOS activities will include field trips, arts and craft, as well as sports and athletics. The program will operate rain or shine and no sign up is required; youth can drop in on any day and at any time during the program’s regular hours.

In addition to the schedule below, we will also be offering an SOS program for older teens Tuesday-Saturday from 3 to 7 p.m. primarily at Yesler Community Center and Garfield Teen Life Center. More information coming soon; please visit https://parkways.seattle.gov/ for updates.

SOS provides low-income Seattle youth with a “summer safety net”, a safe and supportive place to go during summer break. Participants get the chance to visit new parks, learn new skills in art and fitness, and increase their social and cultural awareness by interacting with a diverse group of participants and staff.

For more information or questions, please contact Kiesha Cannon at 206-684-4181

or kiesha.cannon@seattle.gov.

Community invited to celebrate Alice Ball Park Join us for community ribbon cutting on June 14

June 12, 2019 by Admin NW FACTS Leave a Comment

Seattle Parks and Recreation(SPR) is excited to celebrate the opening of Alice Ball Park with the community. Please join us on Friday, June 14, 2019 from 6 to 8 p.m. at 8100 Greenwood Ave. N for a free community event and official ribbon cutting at 6:15 p.m. Alice Ball Park is the first of 14 new park sites being developed by SPR in urban neighborhoods around the city. The event includes music by Kenny Mandell duo, food from Valhalla Sandwiches, and crafts from Seattle Re-Creative. The Seattle Public Library is partnering with SPR on the event. Please stop by the Greenwood branch library and participate in making the community ribbon, a paper chain that will be used at the event. The event is held in conjunction with Art Up Phinneywood.

“This new park offers valuable green and open space in the Phinney/Greenwood neighborhood and creates a great new gathering space for the community to enjoy,” said Jesús Aguirre, Seattle Parks and Recreation Superintendent. “Seattle Parks and Recreation is pleased to honor the legacy of Alice Ball with this new park, which is the first of 14 landbank sites across the city being developed into new parks.”

Cascade Design Collaborative, the community, and SPR worked together on the park design. The park features a large central open lawn, natural discovery and digging area, a reading nook, a plaza area with café furniture, a pervious concrete loop pathway and many new trees and plantings. Through the design process, SPR collaborated with SDOT to provide a raised crosswalk connecting the library to the park, allowing for one singular sidewalk that brings pedestrian flow off the street and into the park open space. The raised crosswalk features a book and leaf design voted on by the community. Reasonable public construction bids allowed for inclusion of the pedestrian lighting additive for the project advocated for by the community and Seattle’s Design Commission.

Alice Ball Park is named in honor of Alice Ball, an African American chemist who earned two degrees from the University of Washington School of Pharmacy in 1912 (pharmaceutical chemistry) and 1914 (pharmacy). She was born in Seattle in 1892. Ball became the first African American woman to graduate with a master’s degree from the University of Hawaii. She developed an injectable oil extract that was the most effective treatment for leprosy during the early 20^th century.

SPR purchased the two property sites between N. 81st and N. 82nd on the east side of Greenwood to develop a park (the mini-mart site purchased in November 2012 and the pub property immediately north purchased in July 2015).

This park project is made possible by the voter-approved Seattle Park District, which provides more than $47 million a year in long-term funding for SPR, including maintenance of parklands and facilities, operation of community centers and recreation programs, and development of new neighborhood parks on previously acquired sites.

For more information, please visit http://www.seattle.gov/parks/about-us/current-projects/greenwood-phinney-park-development. If you have questions about the event, please contact Karen O’Connor at karen.o’connor@seattle.gov or 206-233-7929. The Friends of Alice Ball Park worked with the design team throughout the process and will continue to work with the community to activate the park. To stay up to date on park events visit https://www.facebook.com/greenwoodlibrarypark/.

How Proud We Are…. Congratulations Chardonnay Class of 2019

June 12, 2019 by Admin NW FACTS Leave a Comment

Chardonnay Dior Beaver is a Senior, who attends Garfield High School. She has been in student government for 3 consecutive years as president and has served as All Student Body President 2018-2019.
Chardonnay is one of the founding members of New Generation Activists Group.

She will be attending the University of Washington this fall
On a Full ride scholarship, Following her older sister Moet Redd Beaver.
Her studies will consist of Political Science/ African American Studies. She plans on being an attorney or political strategist.

She is the recipient of the Links, Delta, Black Educators, Golden Grads, YMCA, Mt Baker MLK scholarships, to name several.

On June 14. 2019. Chardonnay will be graduating at memorial stadium @ 8 pm, wearing her gold honor cords.

Congratulations Chardonnay Dior Beaver , We are all so very proud of you.

GETTING TO THE TASTE: FREE PIERCE TRANSIT TASTE EXPRESS, POINT RUSTON WALK, BICYCLE CORRAL, AND OTHER TRANSPORTATION OPTIONS

June 5, 2019 by Admin NW FACTS Leave a Comment

Emerald Queen Casino’s Taste of Tacoma® presented by BECU has taken steps to ensure easy and affordable options for guests attending the Taste, Friday through Sunday, June 21st – 23rd, 2019, at Point Defiance Park in Tacoma, Washington.

Park and ride Pierce Transit’s Taste Express, provided by Taste of Tacoma® for free from Tacoma Community College, every 30 minutes, to and from the festival entrance.

The Pierce Transit Taste Express hours of operation will be Friday, June 21 and Saturday, June 22 from 10:00 a.m. – 9:30 p.m. On Sunday, June 23, it will run from 10:00 a.m. – 8:30 p.m. Pierce Transit’s Taste Express will run starting at Tacoma Community College at South 19th St. and South Mildred St. and drop off guests at Point Defiance Park.

Taste staff will be on hand at Tacoma Community College, and Point Defiance Park to ensure a positive guest experience, and to assist in the load and unload process from Pierce Transit’s Taste Express, of which will be signed.

Guests should note that there will be no parking on site at Point Defiance Park, and that, there will be limited street parking near the Taste. Plan ahead!

Guests who have accessibility needs are encouraged to take Pierce Transit’s Taste Express, which provides ADA compliant buses. Guests can ride this free option round-trip. Guests are reminded that Point Defiance Park offers some paved areas, while much of the park is grass or gravel paths. The event does not have motorized vehicles or wheelchairs for rent. Guests should come prepared and utilize options that best suit their needs.

POINT RUSTON TO THE TASTE – Enjoy live music, and all that Point Ruston offers, then walk to the Taste of Tacoma® for more great food and fun, all weekend. Follow the sidewalk signs to the Taste from Point Ruston.

Special Discounted Taste It! Food Offer: Stop by Farrelli’s Pizza Truck at Point Ruston between June 21-23, purchase a Taste It! menu item, and receive a coupon for $3 off a Craft Beer & Wine Tasting Package OR $2 off a Taste It! Package* Conditions apply.

The Taste of Tacoma® encourages visitors arriving on bicycle, skateboard, or any other form of environmentally-friendly wheels, to check out the Bicycle Corral near the main entrance of the park. Guests can check their strollers, bicycles or other non-motorized wheeled items at the corral, and return at the end of the day to retrieve their items using the numbered tag provided by corral staff. Volunteers from Tacoma Fire Fighters Union Local 31 will be running the corral to ensure your items are safe. Bicycle Corral services are free, however donations encouraged to support Tacoma Fire Fighters Union Local 31

If you’re coming from Vashon on the ferry, we recommend you walk on, and ride the ferry across. If you choose to drive, please be advised there is limited street parking near the Taste. If you choose to walk from the ferry, there is a hill to climb to get to the park, which may pose some issue for those in wheelchairs or who have mobility issues.

The Taste of Tacoma® is a free-to-attend community festival, and, in an effort for attendees to experience the best of the Taste of Tacoma®, we are excited to offer online discounted food and beverage options: Experience Taste Package which includes Craft Beer & Wine Tasting + Taste It! Food Tickets, and the new Taste It! Food Only Package. Discounted online packages available for sale until 11:00 p.m. Thursday, June 20th, 2019.

Discounted Taste Packages are available for purchase at www.tasteoftacoma.com

The Taste of Tacoma® also features handcraft & commercial goods vendors, 70+ live bands on 3 stages, The Taste Cooks! chef demos & cook-off battles, presented by Albert Lee Appliance, Craft Beer and Wine Tasting in The Rose Garden, beer gardens serving up cool brews and local spirits by Gig Harbor’s Heritage Distilling Co., Funtastic Carnival rides and games, sponsor samples and more!

For more information on Pierce Transit’s Taste Express, or for other Taste of Tacoma® event details, head to www.tasteoftacoma.com.

#MeetMeAtTheTaste

*21+ for Craft Beer & Wine Tasting. One coupon per person, per purchase of a Taste It! menu item at Farrelli’s Pizza Truck, between June 21-23, 2019. Cannot be redeemed for cash or combined with Happy Hour, or any other deal. Offer redeemable at the Taste – June 21-23, 2019.

LGBTQ Pride panel for the 50th anniversary of the Stonewall Rebellion

June 5, 2019 by Admin NW FACTS Leave a Comment

Panel celebrating the 50^th anniversary of the Stonewall Rebellion:“Queers fired up against the far-right” Queer activists in the Pacific Northwest have a proud history of standing with other communities against the far-right and fascists which continues today. Hear from panelists who on how to build effective coalitions and united fronts against the far-right and fascists. Speakers include: George Bakan, editor of Seattle Gay News and co-founder of United Front Against Fascism; Su Docekal, socialist feminist leader of many battles including for abortion clinic defense and against racist and anti-gay ballot initiatives; Brendan Foreau, founding member of Community and Labor Against Fascism who was inspired into activism by immigrant rights movement. Open discussion to follow panel. The event is sponsored by Radical Women and Freedom Socialist Party. It will be held at New Freeway Hall, 5018 Rainier Avenue South, Seattle. A fresh summer salad buffet will open at 6:00pm. Dinner donation is $8.00-12.00. Door donation is $2.00-5.00. For more information or to arrange child care, call 206-722-2453.