Community News! February 2024
News, stories and recent articles from and about COO partners in community
Winter All-Partner Convening Recap and Videos Now Available
Partners from across the COO network gathered last December for our Winter All-Partner Convening. The in-person event at Northwest African American Museum was a day for connection, learning, sharing, and restoration. A morning keynote featured adrienne maree brown, followed by afternoon panels to strengthen movements, build collaboration, and energize partnerships.
Read about some memorable moments from the day, watch the new videos, and check out the resources.
Building Connection, Healing, and Belonging: Our Gratitude for Sarah Tran
Sarah Tran has shaped our Learning Community Capacity Building Framework and activities for years. Recently, she facilitated the Winter 2023 All-Partner Convening.
As she transitions from her role as COO Capacity Building design consultant lead role to an advisory role, we’d like to share our gratitude. Read our tribute to Sarah and revisit some of the many resources that she helped develop for our partners.
Tubman Center Expands Its Focus on Quality and Equity in Healthcare
Several items from the Tubman Center for Health and Freedom caught our attention recently.
First, Tubman Center for Health and Freedom CEO AyeNay Abye stopped by “The Day with Trae” in late January to share exciting news about expanding their innovative approaches to services. They’re planning to open a second clinic to serve another 250 community members this year.
”Enabling Environment: Payment Models Report”
The Tubman Center also shared some new original community-based research on system barriers to care, in collaboration with Byrd Barr Place. They took a deep dive into how our healthcare system incentivizes providers for the care they provide. Their findings “are crystal clear: for healthcare to be truly equitable, we must redefine what we pay for and whose needs are centered in those decisions.”
The report looks at a payment model known as “value-based purchasing.” This approach to payment was introduced as an alternative to reimbursement methods that reward quantity of services over quality of care. The current reimbursement model is worsening health inequities, the Center says, because it discourages providers from caring for patients with complex medical needs.
Read the full report at tubmanhealth.org/payment-models-report
Dashboards from the General Election Report
WA Community Alliance publishes 2023 General Election Report and dashboard resources
Washington Community Alliance has published a report that analyzes our state's 2023 General Election. They developed it as part of their vision to increase accessibility of election data. Read the report.
Highlights:
The composition of Washington state's electorate and how trends in voter registration are leading to an increasingly diverse electorate;
Voter turnout across Washington state's elections in 2023, with a particular focus on the General Election;
A breakdown of the voter outreach work done before the election, including a comparative analysis of the efficacy of different outreach methodologies;
Successes and lessons learned from nine different Data Hub partners;
Results of key ballot initiatives and municipal races on the ballot this cycle; and
A brief look ahead to Washington state's elections in 2024.
Check out their General Elections Dashboard, an interactive tool for exploring election results, available online at General Elections Dashboard (wacommunityalliance.github.io)
Skyway Urban Food Systems Pact: Building Our Common Agenda
The Urban Food Systems Pact is using a “Collective Impact” approach to address food access and food justice issues in Skyway. Collective Impact means bringing together people from the community with different backgrounds, from different organizations and sectors, and working together toward a common purpose.
A foundational piece of Collective Impact is building a “Common Agenda” -- a statement of purpose. The Common Agenda is also a process focused on building trust among participants in the Urban Food Systems Pact.
SESEC Releases Impact Report
Check out Southeast Seattle Education Coalition's 2023 Impact Report of accomplishments from last year. Learn more about the organization's history, program testimonials and more by reading the impact report.
Reciprocity and Inner Transformation Shape Mother Yoga After Two Years
The International Examiner recently reported on the unique Chinatown International District yoga studio called Mother Yoga. The studio was born mid-pandemic, and reciprocal support for and from community has helped it thrive.
Read the International Examiner story about what makes the studio unique and why the founder says “we belong to each other.”
Photo by Tessa Chu.
The Living Well Kent Community Was Tested by COVID-19
The Seattle Medium focused on how Living Well Kent navigated COVID-19. The nonprofit was only six years old when its resilience was “sorely tested” by increased demand for its services. Today, it’s still providing food, housing and rental assistance and promoting health and wellness. The organization hopes to bring back pre-pandemic services and expand others, possibly acquiring more land.
Bringing People Together With Food and Music From the Soul
"The Sunday Soul Community Dinners have been recurring every month since June. Recurring sponsorships include FAME – Equity Alliance of Washington, Central District Forum for Arts & Ideas, Big Dawgs Hot Dogs, and Soul Fusion Food. They’ve also received support from other organizations such as Africatown Community Land Trust and Ezell’s Famous Chicken.
“Everybody needs an opportunity and some help,” said Dominic’Que Davis, owner of Big Dawgs Hot Dogs. “Reaching down to level people up is a good feeling.”"
Read the full story about Sunday Soul Community Dinners in the South Seattle Emerald.
New Grief and Loss Cultural Center Opens in CID
In a neighborhood where “grief is part of everyday life,” a new grief and loss support center has opened to serve the community. A Resting Place in the Chinatown International District offers a space for quiet reflection and connection.
It was founded by Derek Dizon, a bereavement clinician at Seattle Children’s who as a young boy lost his mother. Since its opening last June, it’s become a place where people can experience what Dizon calls the transformational nature of grief and connect with their cultural community.
Read the International Examiner story about the new center. Photo by Carmen Hom.
New Incubator Program Supports Latino Small Businesses in South Park
Student journalist Julia Park visited Latino vendors participating in a new small-business incubator program in Seattle’s South Park neighborhood. In a story for South Seattle Emerald, she described the vibrant scene and love from the community as 12 vendors opened for business.
The venture is hosted by Growing Contigo in partnership with Villa Comunitaria and with the support of Seattle Department of Neighborhoods. As the story says, Growing Contigo is a consulting company that helps small businesses succeed through providing resources, knowledge, and connections, and it aims to help build generational wealth in BIPOC communities. The incubator program is part of the City of Seattle’s Generational Wealth Initiative.
Read the story about the new incubator in South Seattle Emerald
Communities Are Coming Together to Address Gun Violence
Community partners are continuing to work together in Seattle’s Central District to address gun violence. They’re bringing in partners across the region so that people throughout King County can benefit from services. Their approaches include a new “Critical Incident Response” team of trusted adults where young people are present, who can mediate and de-escalate incidents of violence. The team also support families and community members with resources.
Read about one of their community meetings in this South Seattle Emerald story.
Byrd Barr Place Recognized in National Magazine for “Sparking Connections”
Seattle’s Byrd Barr Place is featured in this national roundup of six adaptively reused firehouses that “spark connections in their communities.”
The article, in Preservation Magazine, notes that the nonprofit has operated out of Seattle’s National Register–listed Fire Station No. 23 for more than 50 years. In 2020, the City of Seattle decided to give Byrd Barr Place full ownership of the station.
Annual Seattle/King County Clinic Returned to Seattle Center to Provide Free Medical Care to People From All Walks of Life
"“You know, that folktale where somebody has the pot and somebody has some meat and somebody has some vegetables? And everybody adds what they have, and then they share it? That’s what this clinic is. We have some entities that have money, we have some entities that have the diagnostic equipment that we can [borrow]. We have others that have clinical expertise. We have others, like Public Health, who know who the underserved populations are that we can try to target. We have Seattle Center that can provide the facilities and the event setup and has that kind of event knowledge. And so we all came together and really collaborated with a single vision and really made each other better.” -- Clinic founder Julia Colson, quoted in South Seattle Emerald.
"Still, Colson hopes that one day the clinic will be obsolete. 'We don’t want to have to exist, but as long as there is a community need, and as long as there is community support and we can continue to collaborate and be good partners, we’re gonna keep doing it,' said Colson."
Read the story about the Seattle/King County Clinic in the South Seattle Emerald.