Registration for Spring Clean is now closed, thanks to more than 630 volunteers who signed up this year!

Last year 400 volunteers hauled away four tons of garbage across 70 neighborhood blocks.  This year will be even better - keep an eye out for volunteers this Saturday, and be sure to thank them.

This year, volunteers will be working on projects such as removing invasive species at Hicks Lake Park, painting the picnic shelter at Steve Cox Park, planting vegetables at the White Center Food Bank’s garden, neighborhood trash pick-ups, and many others.

The White Center CDA would like to thank our funders for their generous support: Boeing Employees Credit Union, White Center Chamber of Commerce, Waste Management, King County Parks and Recreation, King County Dept. of Corrections, King County Housing Authority, King County Food and Fitness Initiative, Impact Capital, Seattle Public Utilities, World Vision, Southgate Roller Rink, Albertson, and Arrowheads Garden.

Family Connections is a project of the White Center CDA that helps families become economically self-sufficient and links children to early learning and educational opportunities.  Sixty families are enrolled in our program at White Center Heights and Mount View Elementary Schools. The families were recommended by their school as benefiting from additional support from our Family Ambassadors, CDA bilingual staff, who help them connect with their child’s teacher and school in their home language, as well as parenting classes and leadership training.

The White Center CDA is the only neighborhood intermediary that seeks to bring together residents and providers in community engagement and advocacy efforts.

Of White Center’s 32,000 residents, half are people of color.  One in six people in White Center live in poverty, and one in three do not earn a living wage.  Sixty percent of children at three of the four White Center Schools are eligible for the Free/Reduced Price lunch program, which is three times higher than the King County average.

From one of CDA’s Family Ambassadors

Hello, my name is Miguel Diaz and I have two children, a daughter of five years and a baby of 15 months old. My daughter is studying in school [kindergarten] at Mount View Elementary.

This is my first year in Family Connections.  Family Connections is a way to help my community, to have contact with the families of my community and to know their needs and concerns.
I am from Mexico City and have been in the United States for six years. I was studying computers and English at school in my country - it’s like a community college but life is hard there.   I was thinking for my wife and my children. I wanted to provide for my family, and give my kids a good life and education. I am trying to learn the language - it was hard at first because I didn’t know English.  My wife has a sister here in Seattle so we moved here.

I like to help families - help them talk to the teachers; I am excited!

As a community building intermediary, the White Center Community Development Association provides advocacy and strategic support to White Center residents and organizations from diverse perspectives and cultures. Community Building is the core business of the White Center CDA, and is a necessary component to achieving strong results in our Neighborhood Revitalization and Family Development community priorities.

Get involved in training and workshops, neighborhood planning, social networking or community events!

• The White Center Promise Neighborhood Planning Year. This effort is about organizing a network of “cradle-through-college-to-career” services and systems that includes educational, family and community strategies. It is inspired by the Harlem Children’s Zone in New York City who graduate 100% of all high school youth within their zone. Share your thoughts at a wide variety of community events, get involved in a workgroup, or share your ideas online at www.whitecenterpromise.org.

• CDA Membership Mixer Happy Hour. Friday, May 20, 5 - 7 pm.

For more information feel free to contact the CB Team:

Welcome to the inaugural edition of the White Center CDA e-newsletter, “Global Village at a Glance.”

For most of you, it’s been too long since we’ve last communicated with you. I’m sure many of you can appreciate - we get so busy doing our great community work that we sometimes forget to say “hello” or even say “thank you” to the folks that make our work possible. We apologize and aim to be better!

White Center is a happening place! Not only has the White Center CDA continued our work in White Center’s neighborhood business district (come and have lunch one day at one of the many dining spots), and the Family Connections program in our local elementary schools, but we’re constantly on the scan for new partners that will bring benefit to our neighborhood and our families. To get a good feel for the “White Center Way,” check out the White Center Neighborhood Action Plan and the 50+ partners who are committed to improvement in our community. (http://www.wccda.org/resources/neighborhood-plan).

Stay tuned as we continue our White Center Promise (www.whitecenterpromise.org), an education-based neighborhood initiative modeled after the Harlem Children’s Zone experience (www.hcz.org), and aligned with the region’s Community Center for Education Results (www.ccedresults.org). Track our healthy food and fitness work, creating consumer demand and improving access to healthy foods and safe spaces to be active (www.kcffi.org), especially the six locally owned produce markets in the heart of White Center. Join Got Green (www.gotgreen.org) and our collective hope for all communities, particularly low income and communities of color, to benefit from the green economy. We also look forward to building out our partnerships with the organization Apprenticeship and Non-Traditional Employment for Women (ANEW - www.anewaop.org) and Port Jobs (www.portjobs.org) to help prepare White Center residents for apprenticeship programs in construction, as well as an emerging partnership with Habitat for Humanity Seattle-King County (http://www.seattle-habitat.org/) around homeownership rehabilitation. Lastly, we look forward to supporting the most vulnerable populations in White Center through a nascent DSHS benefits portal project (http://www.dshs.wa.gov/servicereform/) and the White Center Food Bank’s healthy food gift certificate program (www.whitecenterfoodbank.org).

It’s customary at CDA staff meetings to offer regular “kudos” and recognition. So here are a few to share with you:

• Congrats to the Southwest Boys and Girls Club in White Center ( http://sw.positiveplace.org/) for recently being recognized as the BEST daily drop in program in the nation!
• Kudos to the owners of the fabulous Southgate Roller Rink (http://www.southgaterollerrink.com/) for their grand opening in April, restoring a community gem and an amazingly fun, family-friendly activity in the heart of downtown White Center.
• Way to go Greenbridge and King County Housing Authority for being home to the largest array of residential solar panels in Washington State atop the new Sixth Place apartments. (http://www.kcha.org/HOPEVI/index.html)
• And last but not least, to us - the White Center CDA- we’re so honored to be the recipient of the Highline Public School’s (www.hsd401.org) Community Recognition Award sponsored by the Washington Association of Administrators. Working with the Highline School District has been a pleasure - and we’re so thankful to outgoing Superintendent John Welch for his brave leadership and commitment to communities.

After almost eight years at the White Center CDA, the excitement and challenge of the work still brings me joy and satisfaction. See you at Spring Clean: look for us all sporting our “I Heart White Center” t-shirts with great pride!