Reflection Paper

12/31/2020 Mayor Durkan Announces $5.65 Million to Community Organizations Through the Equitable Development Initiative

https://dailyplanit.seattle.gov/mayor-durkan-announces-5-65-million-to-community-organizations-through-the-equitable-development-initiative/ 1/4

Mayor Durkan Announces $5.65
Million to Community
Organizations Through the
Equitable Development Initiative
November 10, 2020 by Seattle OPCD

EDI organizations have secured more than $105 million in City-funded dollars since 2017
– Mayor signs property transfer to community ownership for Central Area Senior Center,
99-year lease for Fire Station 6

Mayor Jenny A. Durkan announced nearly $6 million in awards through the Equitable
Development Initiative (EDI), part of the City’s effort to support Seattle’s existing
residents and businesses in high displacement risk neighborhoods. The City awarded $4.4
million to community organizations for site acquisition and major capital projects and
another $1.25 million is intended to provide capacity-building support to existing EDI
partners providing services during the current pandemic and economic crisis. The
awards to organizations led by and serving people of color will be used for organizational
capacity building, property acquisition, and capital expenses. In addition to
the $36 million in EDI funds awarded, these community-based organizations leveraged
that amount to more than $105 million in City-funded dollars since 2017. 

“To tackle the challenges of displacement, our City is investing in community-based
organizations who are leading the way to empower
and strengthen underserved communities and create economic vitality. The Economic
Development Initiative has a strong record of creating the newest homes for our City’s
residents, non-profits, and local small businesses through leveraging other city
programs,“ said Mayor Durkan. “One of my most important priorities in this budget was
to transform how the City invests in communities of color by centering the experiences of
Black and Indigenous communities. Even in this difficult year, my budget set aside
historic resources to meet the challenges of this moment and move us toward being the
city we want to be when we come out of this crisis: stronger, more just, and more
equitable.” 

The EDI fund, administered by the Office of Planning and Community
Development (OPCD), was created to respond to the needs of marginalized populations,
reduce disparities, and support access to opportunity in healthy, vibrant communities. The
initiative is championed by community organizations concerned about displacement
pressures and historical lack of investment that has occurred in communities of color in
Seattle. Mayor Durkan proposed a sustained funding source for the program in 2019. 

“By hosting this important event we honor the priorities of our community members and
the hard work they are doing to create the kinds of neighborhoods they want,”
said Councilmember Tammy Morales, District 2. “In this environment especially, when
Seattle is working on anti-displacement strategies and responding to the economic impacts
of COVID-19, the nearly $6 million being awarded today will launch the kind of changes
sought by organizations led by and for Black and Brown communities in neighborhoods
like mine that are at high risk of displacement. I am proud of all the recipients today. I am
especially grateful for the work of the Rainier Valley Midwives providing culturally
relevant, holistic pregnancy care to a community with high infant mortality rates. Our
community deserves medical care that centers their life experiences and celebrates their
humanity. I’m excited that the Central Area Senior Center finally has control of their
building so they can make the facility and grounds improvements they’ve been planning

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Mayor Durkan Announces $5.65 Million to Community Organizations Through the Equitable Development Initiative

Mayor Durkan Announces $5.65 Million to Community Organizations Through the Equitable Development Initiative

Mayor Durkan Announces $5.65 Million to Community Organizations Through the Equitable Development Initiative

Mayor Durkan Announces $5.65 Million to Community Organizations Through the Equitable Development Initiative

Mayor Durkan Announces $5.65 Million to Community Organizations Through the Equitable Development Initiative

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12/31/2020 Mayor Durkan Announces $5.65 Million to Community Organizations Through the Equitable Development Initiative

https://dailyplanit.seattle.gov/mayor-durkan-announces-5-65-million-to-community-organizations-through-the-equitable-development-initiative/ 2/4

for so long. And I’m especially thrilled that a worn out building can be repurposed to
make way for the development of the Food Innovation Center, which will create a
healthy food industry in Rainier Beach, create job opportunities, and serve as a catalyst in
a neighborhood that needs it most.” 

“We are so grateful to receive $1 million from the Equitable Development Initiative,” said
Tara al of Rainier Valley Midwives. “It is giving us the momentum to build a
community Birth Center of our dreams. Thank you for believing in us and supporting our
vision to provide equitable healthcare in South Seattle.” 

EDI fosters community leadership and supports organizations to promote equitable access
to jobs, education and childcare, outdoor space and recreation, cultural expression, healthy
food, and other community needs and amenities. These partnerships are designed to
support leadership and build capacity building among the most historically marginalized
groups in Seattle, sharing in decision-making and power, and working towards racial
equity outcomes that allows all communities to thrive. 

An interim board of community members provided recommendations to the City on the
funding decisions announced today. The City is seeking representatives for a new
permanent EDI Advisory Board grounded in community to provide ongoing guidance
for the initiative and provide input on future funding decisions. Applications are currently
being accepted through Nov. 30, 2020.   

“When community members advocated for the creation of EDI, it was with the intention
of creating collaboration between community-initiated projects and the City to respond to
historical injustices and increase community-ownership,” said Ubax Gardheere, EDI
division manager. “The transfer of these properties and EDI investments are all important
contributions towards creating a more equitable City.” 

Along with today’s award announcement, Mayor Durkan signed her ordinances, approved
unanimously be the Seattle City Council, that transfers City property to Black-led
community organizations in the Central District. The two ordinances permanently transfer
the Central Area Senior Center (CASC) to community ownership and establish a 99-year
lease with Africatown Community Land Trust (ACLT) for Fire Station 6, an EDI award
recipient. These property transfers build on the September transfer to Byrd Barr Place,
another Black-led advocacy organization.

“In recent months, the City has proposed and passed the transfer of Black-led
organizations including Byrd Barr Place, the Central Area Senior Center, and Fire Station
6 back to community. In recent weeks, the Sound
Transit Board moved forward on transferring ten surplus properties in Rainier Valley to
the City of Seattle at no cost, for 150 new affordable homes. Our City must make real on
the promise of bold investments in the Black community and increasing community
ownership of land. These places and organizations will uplift and support the Black
community for decades to come,” concluded Mayor Durkan.  

Fire Station 6 will be the future home of the William Grose Center for Cultural
Innovation (WGC), where ACLT will provide small business assistance, skills training and
celebrate Black/African American culture and history in the Central Area. The City
has committed $1 million from the EDI fund for tenant improvements to Fire Station 6. As
a valued community partner, Africatown Community Land
Trust has received $15.5 million in city funding, since 2017.  

“The proposed lease and reuse of Fire Station 6 as the WGC would directly carry and
contribute to the EDI Wealth Building strategies and the accompanying EDI are critical to
showing us a path forward, that our communities have solutions and that a more equitable
Seattle is possible,” said Wyking Garrett, president and CEO of Africatown Community
Land Trust. 

CASC has served Central Area seniors since 1972, when it was founded as a nonprofit
volunteer-supported organization. In 1975, the City purchased a facility in the Central Area
where CASC continues to provide health and wellness, counseling, transportation, and meal
services.  

“CASC is ready, and eager to accept the transfer of the property to the community. The
gentrification of the Central District and the movement of Black people out of Seattle has
been quite evident within the City limits. However, there remains a core of institutions

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http://www.seattle.gov/Documents/Departments/Clerk/BoardsCommissionsOpenings/EDI-Advisory-Board-Recruitment-Announcement10.30.20pt.pdf

https://dailyplanit.seattle.gov/Users/KellyJ4/OneDrive%20-%20City%20of%20Seattle/EDI/casrcenter.org

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12/31/2020 Mayor Durkan Announces $5.65 Million to Community Organizations Through the Equitable Development Initiative

https://dailyplanit.seattle.gov/mayor-durkan-announces-5-65-million-to-community-organizations-through-the-equitable-development-initiative/ 3/4

that Black people and those who are now seniors, travel far and wide to reach. CASC is
one of these locations.  It is a place of historical importance,” said Dian Ferguson,
Executive Director of CASC. “We applaud Mayor Durkan for setting the stage for the
transfer of this property to its rightful 50-year community-based partner. It advances a
collective mission to move from business as usual to achieving real outcomes focused on
equity with no strings attached to the seniors of our community and its African American
founders.” 

The following community-based organizations currently working with EDI on anti-
displacement strategies and economic development opportunities will
receive awards from the $4.4 million for site acquisition and major capital projects in
2020: 

Africatown Midtown Plaza — $640,000  

Africatown will create between 5,000 and 8000 sq ft of affordable commercial space for
Black-owned businesses in Midtown Plaza. The project also includes 130 affordable
homes and art that reflects the African-American heritage of the neighborhood. 

Byrd Barr Place — $500,000 
Byrd Barr Place has been operating out of the City’s surplus Fire Station 23. The
City transferred ownership of the property to the organization in September and
the additional funds will support improvements to the building. Completion of this project
would renovate the 100+ year old building to meet contemporary ADA and environmental
standards, allowing BBP to expand the services it provides. 

Chief Seattle Club — $500,000 
The Chief Seattle Club is renovating the Monterey Lofts above their current facility
and adjacent to the site of their new facility. It is designed to support the physical, cultural,
and spiritual needs of the American Indian and Alaska Native community, with
indigenous designs, 80 affordable homes, services, health clinic, and a café/art gallery
space in Pioneer Square. 

Ethiopian Community in Seattle —$750,000 

The Ethiopian Community in Seattle is redeveloping its existing community center to
include 100 affordable homes, childcare, and commercial space.  The awarded funds will
be used to to finance construction expected to break ground next year.  

Multicultural Community Coalition — $842,000  

The Multicultural Community Coalition (MCC) will anchor several community
organizations serving Seattle’s growing immigrant, refugee and people of color
communities by creating a community-owned and operated co-working space and an
essential Cultural Innovation Center (CIC). The CIC is envisioned as a vital heritage and
cultural arts venue which will house year-round, cultural events and activities as well as
serving as a Creative Economy space in which artists, cultural nonprofits, and creative
small businesses will produce and distribute cultural goods and services that generate
jobs, revenue, and quality of life.

Rainier Valley Midwives — $1 million 
Rainier Valley Midwives has been operating out of a temporary location in the Rainier
Valley Community Clinic that is becoming untenable due to escalating rents. The
organization is working to acquire and build a permanent Birth Center in the Rainier
Valley that will provide wrap-around services before, during, and after the birth process to
people of color. 

Wing Luke Museum — $168,000 
The Wing is seeking to preserve the Homestead Home one block south of the Museum
and to activate and develop its adjacent parking lot. This home is the most intact
remaining single-family home in the Chinatown-International District, constructed in
1937 despite the Chinese Exclusion Act and discriminatory barriers to single family
homes in the neighborhood. On the lot, the Wing intends to build 60 affordable
apartments above a street-level community gathering space. 

The following existing EDI partners will receive new capacity-building awards of up to
$75,000 in 2020: Black & Tan Hall, Byrd Barr Place, Central Area Youth Association,
Cham Refugees Communities, Chief Seattle Club, Duwamish Tribal Services, Duwamish

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https://www.mcc-othello.org/

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12/31/2020 Mayor Durkan Announces $5.65 Million to Community Organizations Through the Equitable Development Initiative

https://dailyplanit.seattle.gov/mayor-durkan-announces-5-65-million-to-community-organizations-through-the-equitable-development-initiative/ 4/4

Valley Affordable Housing Coalition, Lake City Collective, Friends of Little Saigon,
Queer the Land,  Rainier Valley Midwives, Rainier Beach Action Coalition, HomeSight,
United Indians of All Tribes Foundation, Urban Black LLC, West African Community
Council, and Wing Luke Museum. 

Additional awards to new EDI partners will be announced later this fall, including
organizations that are supporting communities of color and small businesses responding to
the devastating economic dislocation caused by the COVID-19 global pandemic. 

Since November 2016, OPCD and partner departments, including Office of Economic
Development (OED), Office of Housing (OH), Department of
Neighborhoods (DON), Office of Arts & Culture (ARTS), and Office for Civil
Rights (OCR), have coordinated the administration of the EDI Fund. 

Projects were evaluated on their ability to positively impact several equity drivers, that
lead to racial equity outcomes including: 

Promoting economic opportunity through education, job training, and enhancing
community cultural anchors. 
Helping marginalized populations, businesses, and community organizations stay in
their neighborhoods. 
Enhancing health outcomes, access to healthy, culturally relevant food, and
supporting safe environments. 

Successful applicants demonstrated a deep relationship with the community they are
seeking to serve and feature an inclusive community process, with community members
serving in their organizational leadership. 

Filed Under: Daily Plan It, News Release Tagged With: Equitable Development, Equitable
Development Initiative

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