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When Diversity Matters Most. The Strength Lies In Differences, Not In Similarities

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Inslee, health care leaders, patients kick off nation’s first public option health care effort

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When 6-year-old Kaiser Whittaker broke his leg last year jumping on a trampoline, his parents’ first priority wasn’t taking him to the emergency room. Instead, it was more important to give him medicine to prevent any possible internal bleeding. Then, they rushed him to the hospital.

Kaiser has hemophilia, which means his blood doesn’t clot easily. Kaiser’s dad, Jed, said what’s most worrisome about this type of medical disorder is something they can’t see: If Kaiser falls and hits his knee hard on the concrete, for example, Jed’s concern immediately centers on the chance of internal bleeding.

“It’s a stressful reality for me and my wife,” Jed said.

Protecting Washingtonians against that uncertainty is why Gov. Jay Inslee and legislators passed the nation’s first public health care option.

“We should not be cautious and conservative on this,” Inslee said. “We should be bold and energetic.”

Inslee convened health care leaders, legislators, elected leaders and stakeholders in Seattle Wednesday to discuss the first steps of implementing Cascade Care, an effort that will be led by the Exchange.

City of Seattle Joins Over 12 Other Regional Agencies to Recognize Smoke Ready Communities Day

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Mayor Durkan and the City of Seattle joined with organizations from across the Puget Sound to host a resource fair at the Rainier Beach Community Center to help residents learn how to protect their health during wildfire smoke season.

Wildfire smoke has become increasingly normal in the Seattle area during summertime. Last year, wildfire smoke led to 24 days of poor air quality. This year, the air could get even worse.

In response, Smoke Ready Communities Day was created to ensure that our diverse communities will have the resources they need to stay healthy and safe when our air quality is poor. Smoke Ready Communities Day comes as a joint effort between Pierce, King, Kitsap, and Snohomish counties, Mayors of cities in all four counties, including Seattle, Tacoma, and Everett, Emergency Management departments across the counties, the Washington Department of Health, the Washington Department of Natural Resources, and Puget Sound Clean Air Agency.

As an outdoors-loving city and region, we must ensure that while we do enjoy nature and the outdoors, we stay safe and inside during heavily smoky times. Stay safe this season!

Arts in Parks provides free events, public art installations, and art series at parks around Seattle this summer!

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The 2019 Arts in Parks brochure has arrived! Download it here: http://ow.ly/yxBR50uK4Fg

The Arts in Parks program supports new and established community festivals, art happenings and music concerts that enliven Seattle parks by promoting arts and culture, celebrating diversity, building community connections and energizing parks while connecting with underserved communities. Arts in Parks is an initiative of Seattle Parks and Recreation and the Office of Arts & Culture. All events are free and open to the public. Learn more here.

“The Arts in Parks program brings our parks to life with an array of local art pieces, performances and cultural events that celebrate Seattle’s diverse communities,” said Jesús Aguirre, Superintendent, Seattle Parks and Recreation. “This program is presented in partnership with the Office of Arts & Culture and is a wonderful example of how we collaborate to bring new and innovative opportunities to serve all Seattle residents. Arts in Parks activities are free and open to all, and offer a fun and unique way to explore the city’s parks. I hope everyone has the chance to get out this summer and experience this program and the incredible art and beautiful open spaces our city has to offer!”.

 

Seattle Youth Commission now accepting applications

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2018-2019 Seattle Youth Commissioners

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’

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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

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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

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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.

USA TODAY Network and Gannett Foundation Award $100,000 “A Community Thrives” Grant to LIHI’s Tiny House Program

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The Low Income Housing Institute’s Tiny House Program was one of 16 non-profits from across the country awarded “A Community Thrives” grant. Here is an excerpt from the USA TODAY press release:
“Journalists in the USA TODAY Network are telling local stories and regularly hear amazing ideas to improve American communities – which helped to inspire the creation of A Community Thrives.
The Low Income Housing Institute was among the 2019 recipients.
The Seattle-based organization was awarded a $100,000 national project grant for its efforts to help improve their community through housing.
The Low Income Housing Institute builds, owns, and runs housing for the homeless and formerly homeless people throughout Washington state. It also provides supportive services to help its clients increase self-sufficiency and transition to permanent housing.
The Low Income Housing Institute developed what they call 10 “tiny house villages” in Seattle, and one in Olympia.
“You can help end homelessness for hundreds of thousands of people, it’s by no means a totally helpless situation,” said Sharon Lee, executive director. “An ordinary person who cares about ending homelessness can pick up a paintbrush and help us literally end homelessness.”
The Institute, which has already built 300 tiny houses, has a goal of building 500 homes for those in need.”
LIHI would like to thank Seattle Mayor Durkan and the City Council for their partnership and support of this vital program, which can be a model for communities across the country that are struggling with housing and shelter for their homeless residents. Tiny house villages in Seattle have proven more effective than traditional shelters, both in terms of cost and in placements in permanent housing.
The $100,000 grant will be used to build 20 houses @ $2,500 each and to fund village operations.

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

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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.

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

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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 20th 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/.