Seattle University
EN-10: Community Partnerships

Since 2013, Seattle Housing Authority (SHA), in cooperation with Seattle University, Seattle Public Schools, the City of Seattle Parks and Recreation and several non-profits, has implemented a coordinated approach to ensure low-income children in the Yesler Terrace neighborhood of Seattle have access to early learning programs, tutoring, summer academic enrichment programs, college preparation mentoring and scholarships. Yesler Terrace includes over 1,500 residents of modest economic means speaking more than 10 different languages.

Collaboration among the partners, including a strong working relationship between SHA and the Seattle University Sundborg Center for Community Engagement (CCE), has been a key component to the success of the project. Through the partnership Seattle University has provided funds to local youth development organizations to provide summer learning experiences for children and youth at Yesler Terrace. For example, for that past 10 years, Seattle University has provided $20k or more per year to the Yesler Youth Media Project (http://ytyouthmedia.com/about/) for youth to create videos to education children about the redevelopment of the Yesler Terrace public housing community. Seattle University has also provided work study students to support three afterschool programs at Yesler Terrace.

In addition, Seattle University is a lead partner with the Black Farmers Collective YES Farm at Yesler Terrace (https://www.blackfarmerscollective.com/farms). Through this partnership Seattle University faculty and students have assisted with the development of the farm including providing hundreds of hours of direct service and project support such as guidance on irrigation, solar power and measurement of air and soil quality.

In 2023, Tilth Alliance, Seattle University, and King Conservation District teamed up to grow culturally relevant plants at the “Rainier Beach Urban Farm & Wetlands” to be distributed to 39 distinct community partners in the King County area, such as: multi-family and low income housing sites, community gardens, social service agencies, BIPOC farm and garden groups, schools, the Snoqualmie Tribe, and food share support groups (examples: African Community Housing and Development, Asian Counseling and Referral Service, International Rescue Committee's Namaste Garden, Somali Family Safety Task Force).

Tilth Alliance, Seattle University, and King Conservation District work with the community groups to identify what plants were of interest to their gardeners, including direct communication with the gardeners who would receive the starts. Together they created a planting list of diverse and hard to find plants as well as more traditional varieties that are of high interest culturally to their community partners. Examples of culturally relevant plants that were requested:
Hibiscus sabdariffa – Roselle, Asian Sour Leaf; Bittermelon – Bittergourd; Amaranth for Greens; Wax gourd; Dhol Gourd, Tatsoi, Shungiku, Managu, Tomatillo, Okra,etc.

Three distributions were conducted (spring, summer and fall) to provide plants appropriate for the season and to keep gardens growing, including growing over the winter. In 2023, 12,564 pots of plants, 83 packets of seeds were distributed to 39 distinct community partners with 47 different sites they were shared from.

The Titlh Alliance, SU, and the King Conservation District participate equally with the different community groups about what they want, need, and listen to that input to then grow the plants. They then coordinate with each group individually in the way the group wants to participate. Some of the community groups are also engaged at the Rainier Beach Urban Farm and Wetlands site in the community greenhouse where they are offered space to grow whatever they want for their programming and Tilth Alliance supports with the infrastructure and space, free seeds, and plant care advice. They make their own decisions about what to grow.

See more here: https://tilthalliance.org/our-work/gardeners/natural-yard-care/

The Capitol Hill EcoDistrict is a neighborhood-based sustainability initiative dedicated to improving the connectivity, public health and wellness, and environmental resilience of Seattle’s center city. Seattle University has been represented on the Capitol Hill Ecodistrict's Steering Committee since its inception in 2011. Founded in 2011 by Community Roots Housing, the EcoDistrict began as an effort to address dramatic growth in Seattle by ensuring community priorities were reflected in significant developments changing the neighborhood. For over a decade, Community Roots Housing has served as an incubator for the bold, ambitious work of the EcoDistrict, including programmatic successes such as the Capitol Hill Renter Initiative and the resulting Seattle Renter’s Commission, advocacy for the passage of Mandatory Housing Affordability, an affordable housing transit pass pilot, the creation of the Lowell school-based health center and community hub, and REVIVAL Market Street pop-ups. In 2020, Donna Moodie joined the EcoDistrict as its new Executive Director, bringing years of deep experience in community engagement to the role.

The EcoDistrict works in collaboration with Seattle University and other local community partners to test and deploy innovative solutions that address the city’s most pressing sustainability challenges. The Ecodistrict looks to cities around the globe for inventive approaches to centering neighborhood development around long-term health for people and the planet.

At the end of September 2023, the sustainability- and equity-focused community program found a new organizational home with the Urban League of Metropolitan Seattle. The Urban League of Metropolitan Seattle (ULMS) is an organization with nearly 100 years of experience in direct services and advocacy for the Black and other under-represented communities. The EcoDistrict and ULMS join forces at a significant moment as EcoDistricts.org, the national organization advancing a new model of urban development that certified the Capitol Hill EcoDistrict in 2021, was recently acquired by the Partnership for Southern Equity, an Atlanta-based nonprofit that promotes racial equity and shared prosperity for all in the American South.

For more information, see:
-- https://www.capitolhillecodistrict.org/
-- https://www.capitolhillecodistrict.org/_files/ugd/eba21c_3efd2d4b22744e409178e37a2a23dd2f.pdf