Category: Community Spotlights

Seattle CARES—creating and becoming superheroes

By Adriana Zazula

Seattle CARES is more than mentoring. The organization invests not only in the youth they work with, but also their families. Their mission is to secure and transform the lives of Black children by inspiring, recruiting, and mobilizing masses of caring Black men and women to mentor and nourish them. Their programs respect the voices of the students, adults, parents and guardians they serve, and reflect the needs and wishes of the community. The pandemic highlighted an increasing need for wrap-around support. Seattle CARES took only three weeks to reassess how they would adapt their programs virtually. Immediately following, they … [ ]

African Young Dreamers Empowerment Program Intl.—amplifying youth voice and resilience

By Adriana Zazula

The African Young Dreamers Empowerment Program Intl. (AYDEPI) was established in 2019 in response to missing resources for young immigrants in South King County. Executive Director, Beatrice Kiraguri, noticed that there wasn’t a space for young immigrants to connect and heal—including her daughter, Fiona Okech, an AYDEPI Youth Representative. The urgent need for change and input from immigrant youth inspired the formation of AYDEPI. Their mission is to provide sustainable community health, social services and education programs targeting vulnerable youth and their environment. AYDEPI’s  key focus areas are in education, socio-economic interventions, mental health awareness, substance abuse and prevention, and … [ ]

How literacy is changing lives and building community in Kent

By Lex Gavin

Coalition for Refugees from Burma (CRB), based in Kent, knows that literacy is a vehicle that changes lives. Their programs provide support for immigrant and refugee communities across the age spectrum, always with an eye trained towards self-advocacy. Executive Director, Mona Han wants to work herself out of a job—a philosophy that influences all aspects of the organization. While some social service organizations utilize a case management strategy and aim to be a one-stop-shop to access a wide range of supports from rental assistance to counseling sessions to bus passes, CRB has stayed focused on their specialty: literacy as a … [ ]

Wenas Mammoth Foundation—bringing earth science to life in Central Washington

By Adriana Zazula

What if we told you that Mammoths roamed Washington 16,000 years ago? What if we told you that you and your family could see it for yourself? The Wenas Mammoth Foundation (WMF) prides themselves on doing just that. Since 2005 the organization has welcomed the community, from archaeologists to kindergartners, to visit their property to dig for and examine Mammoth bones. Why? Because they love earth science and think you should too.  When we first discovered the mammoth—although we usually tell people it found us—we knew it was an opportunity to get the community involved in earth science. We wanted … [ ]