White Center Promise is a long-term effort aimed at eradicating poverty in White Center. It will create a support system that will lead to student and family success and bring about social change. Our goal is that all children in White Center will have a healthy and successful life from birth to college and beyond.
Join the effort to plan our White Center Promise for the future of our children. Share your thoughts, enjoy the company of your neighbors, and have a great time with free local food and entertainment.
What: White Center Promise Summer Celebration When: Friday, July 22, 2010 @ 4:00pm Location: Greenbridge Plaza (8th Ave SW & SW 98th St.)
For more event information or to volunteer contact Virgil Domaoan at virgil@wccda.org or call (206) 694-1082.
For more information on White Center Promise please contact Laurie Bohm, Promise Neighborhood Project Director, at (206) 708-8772 or lbohm@swyfs.org.
White Center CDA staff joined residents from the Greenbridge neighborhood and Family Connections staff (Mt. View Elementary and White Center Heights Elementary) to advocate for the White Center and Boulevard Park libraries at the King County Library System’s (KCLS) board of trustees meeting in Issaquah last night.
A large contingent of White Center’s community attended last night’s KCLS board of trustees monthly meeting to advocate against the closing and consolidation of the White Center and Boulevard Park libraries. Among them were residents from the Greenbridge neighborhood to provide their perspectives on how a potential closure will effect them and their families. Lan Le and Anab Abdulle from Family Connections provided interpretation in Vietnamese and Somali, respectively.
The experience for our Greenbridge neighbors was a new one - many of them had not been to Issaquah but were eager to speak in front of the board. They spoke about access, how their families utilize the libraries, and how closing the libraries will have an effect on the Greenbridge library (located inside the YWCA learning center).
The board heard from many other White Center representatives, notably the White Center Library Guild, who have been longtime advocates of the libraries and leading a campaign to “Save Our Libraries”. Over 1,700 signatures were collected by the Guild and community partners, which was presented to the board by Astha Tada of the Guild. King County council member Joe McDermott was also in attendance to reiterate his support of the community.
The KCLS board of trustees decided to defer their decision of library consolidation of the White Center and Boulevard Park libraries until a decision about annexation is made by the City of Burien. We will provide more information about the library situation on this blog (as well as Facebook and Twitter) as it develops.
The White Center CDA supports the current efforts of the Save Our Libraries campaign, led through the grassroots community efforts of the White Center Library Guild. Below is CDA’s message sent out to the community to attend the next King County Library System’s Board of Trustees meeting on June 28. The next Guild meeting is on Monday, June 20, 1:00pm at the White Center Library.
Start of message:
There has been a proposal at the King County level to possibly close/consolidate both the White Center and Boulevard Park libraries. In response, the White Center Library Guild launched a “Save Our Libraries” campaign to advocate for these libraries and to stress its importance to the community. The Guild has created a petition that can be signed in front of the libraries and at various community events. Read news coverage about it here: http://tinyurl.com/SaveOurLibrariesWCBP.
The King County Library System Board of Trustees will be meeting on Tuesday, June 28 to further discuss this issue. Join the White Center Library Guild, White Center CDA and concerned community members to let the board know how important these libraries are to you, your family and your community!
WHO: Supporters of our White Center / Boulevard Park Libraries!
WHAT: King County Library System Board of Trustees meeting
WHEN: Tuesday, June 28, 5:00pm
WHERE: KCLS Service Center, 960 Newport Way NW, Issaquah, 98027 (TRANSPORTATION PROVIDED, INFO BELOW)
WHY: To advocate for our libraries, our youth, our neighbors and our neighborhood’s future!
The first 30 minutes of this meeting is open to public comment. Those who wish to speak may sign up at the beginning.
We understand that transportation may be a barrier, so please call (206) 694-1082 or email ian@wccda.org and let us know if you need a ride to the meeting and back to White Center. Meet us at the White Center CDA office at 3:00pm.Our White Center CDA van and other vehicles will leave theWhite Center CDA parking lot at 3:30pm.
Bernadette Mirikle, Community Engagement Manager at Highline Public Schools, recently presented at a recent Social Venture Partners event in regards to Collective Impact and mentions the work of the White Center CDA. You can jump right to this part by clicking here, or fast forward to the 3:45 mark.
For more information about Social Venture Partners - Seattle, click here.
Mapping Our Voices for Equality (MOVE) unveiled these three digital short stories featuring two staff members of the CDA, plus Colleen from Young’s Restaurant in White Center. You can view them all here:
The White Center CDA expresses our heartfelt thank you to all of our 630+ Spring Clean volunteers! It was a great event; heavily attended by youth of all ages, our elders, our many different immigrant communities, our longtime residents, and our community partners/sponsors to keep White Center a cleaner, safer, healthier place to live.
Mural project on 16th and 98th.
A before and after photo at the White Center Heights Elementary project. Photos by Adrian Hedwig.
ATTENTION CURRENT AND FUTURE WHITE CENTER CDA MEMBERS!
Last year, we held a series of CDA Membership Mixers to connect our membership with resources, network with each other and how we can all work together to make a better White Center. We’re happy to announce the first CDA Membership Mixer of the year, and it’s going to be a fun one.
Stop by the world famous DubSea Coffee on Friday, May 20, from 5:00pm-7:00pm and meet your fellow CDA Members! We’ll have food and drink, resource tables, community announcements, activities, a raffle, how you can be more involved in CDA events, and more.
You do not have to be a CDA Member to attend this event - if you are interested in learning more about being a CDA Member and would like to possibly sign up at the Mixer, feel free to attend!
We also have a CDA Membership page on our website, which is under construction but will have updated information soon.
