This is the first time that we are doing a run and walk in White Center and we want to see all of your lovely faces there supporting health and wellness in our community. This is an event that is being organized by former EverGreen High School students with support from the CDA and YES Foundation. There will be prizes for people who place in the event as well.  To register please follow the link: WC5K Registration

Saturday November 12th, 2:30 p.m. - 3:30 p.m. White Center Community Cultural Center (aka St. James Annex) 9421 Eighteenth Street SW, Seattle

Win - $500 in prizes like water cisterns, landscape design, car wash gift certificates, oil changes, bus passes, and more!

Sustainable West Seattle presents a 30 minute talk on the biggest threat to Puget Sound: Toxic Runoff. After the audience learns about solutions to toxic runoff, they will have the opportunity to win one of more than 10 pollution prevention prizes ($1,000 value).

For more information, please visit our website: www.tox-ick.org

(Event presented in Spanish)

En Espanol:

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Capitol Hill Housing Celebrates Grand Opening of Unity Village of White Center

November 2, 2011 (Seattle, WA) - The White Center community is delighted to announce the grand opening of Unity Village, a new construction project featuring 30 units of affordable apartments near the business district, close to public transit, shopping and services.  During this challenging economic climate for affordable housing developers, the White Center Community Development Association, Capitol Hill Housing and Delridge Neighborhoods Development Association have combined resources through an innovative partnership to develop Unity Village, formerly known as Strength of Place Village.

The celebration will feature a tour of the project and remarks from King County Executive Dow Constantine, King County Council Member Joe McDermott and Burien Mayor Joan McGilton, along with other officials from the State of Washington, King County, White Center, Seattle and Burien.

Located on the corner of SW 100^th Street and 13^th Avenue SW, the $9.5 million project features 30 new apartments ranging from one-bedrooms to three-bedrooms for low-income families making less than about $55,000 per year.  Unity Village boasts many green features, and is green built to the Washington State Evergreen Sustainable Development Standard.

This project is one of just a handful of projects in Washington State that received American Recovery and Reinvestment Act Tax Credit Assistance Program funding administered by the Washington State Housing Finance Commission.  In a time when low-income housing tax credits were scarce, the partnership’s combined strengths made it feasible for the project to secure tax credit equity and a federal award.  Capitol Hill Housing is the lead housing developer of Unity Village, the White Center Community Development Association is the local sponsor and Delridge Neighborhoods Development Association secured the site in 2008 and provided construction management services for the project.  The project is owned by a tax credit Limited Liability Company in which all three non-profit organizations have an ownership stake.

The name “Unity Village” was selected by the White Center community and the tenants of the project as they began meeting to sign leases. According to Aileen Balahadia, Executive Director of the White Center Community Development Association, “the project’s residents along with its owners collectively recognized unity as a goal of the community and a hallmark of the collaborative nature of the project’s development.   This decision, guided authentically by resident voice, is seen a true testament to how this project developed from original vision to grand opening.”

Christopher Persons, Executive Director of Capitol Hill Housing said “it has been an honor and a privilege to work on this unique project in the heart of White Center. The development of Unity Village is a model for collaboration and the development of affordable housing in a community context.”

Funding for this project was provided by Impact Capital, King County, Washington State Housing Finance Commission, American Recovery and Reinvestment Act Tax Credit Assistance Program, the State of Washington, National Equity Fund, Bank of America, the Employees Community Fund of Boeing Puget Sound and the Bill & Melinda Gates Sound Families Initiative in conjunction with the King County Housing Authority.

The event sponsors are Absher Construction and Bank of America.

Unity Village Groundbreaking

Wednesday, November 16th

3pm Tour of the project, including units and grounds

4pm Remarks & Reception

Intersection of 13th Avenue SW & 100th Street in White Center

Please RSVP to: patricia@wccda.org or (206) 694-1082 x162

{ CLICK TO ENLARGE }

Not a part of In Motion? Click here now to be a part of the free program and receive 8 free bus tickets and a coupon for a free scoop of ice cream from Full Tilt! Read below for the weekly raffle prizes to be given away for all those who continue to log in their trips via In Motion.

White Center: You’ve done a great job getting In Motion. Keep up the great work to continue earning free transit fare and prize raffle entries!

It’s easy to log your trips online:
http://216.182.94.151/index.cfm?fuseaction=login&programid=78

So far, you and your White Center neighbors have switched 2,374 trips from driving alone to a healthier option, saving more than 35,000 miles of driving, 1,700 gallons of gas, and 34,000 pounds of CO2.

Be one of three weekly winnersSpecial Raffle Week 1: Picnic Prize Packages
Week that 2+ trips must be taken: Sunday, 9/4 - Saturday, 9/10
Date by when the trip log must be complete (online or postcards must be received by): Wednesday, 9/14 by noon

Prizes:
1. Picnic Delivered to Your Door: CSA share home delivery with bonus deluxe picnic blanket
2. Picnic Adventure: $25 gift certificate to Bicycles West + $20 in Safeway cards
3. Picnic at the Zoo: Zoo passes + $20 in Safeway cards

Special Raffle Week 2: Get a Taste of White Center!
- Week that 2+ trips must be taken: Sunday, 9/11 - Saturday, 9/17
- Date by when the trip log must be complete (online or postcards must be received): Wednesday, 9/21 by noon
- Prizes: Gift certificate to one of the following:
1. Salvadorean Bakery and Restaurant
2. Queen’s Deli
3. Rosticeria y Cocina El Paisano
4. Huong Xua White Center Deli
5. Zippy’s Giant Burgers
6. Golden House Bakery

Do you live in White Center? Do you want to grow your own food but don’t have a place to do it? Do you have a place to do it but don’t know how?
The White Center Cultural Community Center garden has a plot for you and people to help you grow your edibles. Please contact Erika@gleanit.org for more information.

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Community Outreach Coordinator

Join Community Harvest of Southwest Seattle as a part-time outreach coordinator in White Center! We have an immediate opening for an energetic individual who can rally the White Center community around the White Center Cultural Community Center Garden.

This position will be responsible for finding plot holders, supervising work parties, soliciting for in kind donations, managing event logistics for a Harvest Festival, recruiting teachers and speakers for courses and in general generate support for the garden as well as increasing access to fresh fruits and vegetables in our community. Tasks will also include but not be limited to getting supplies and materials, outreach coordination, organizing volunteer tasks, and other such duties. In this part-time temporary position, you’ll have an opportunity to work in a dynamic environment and make a positive difference for disadvantaged individuals in our community.

The hours will average 12 hours per week for 20 weeks at a pay of $15 per hour.

You have or are:

18 years of age or over

White Center Resident

Contacts in the White Center Community

Edible gardening experience preferred

Community organizing experience preferred

Extremely organized and detail-oriented - with excellent follow-through and communication skills

Outgoing, energetic and passionate about excellence and teamwork

Proficiency in MS Office Suite

We are:

A small grassroots organization that is dedicated to increasing access to fresh fruits and vegetables in White Center

More information can be found at: www.gleanit.org

To apply:

Please submit your cover letter and resume to Erika@gleanit.org

Check out this White Center Spring Clean video, courtesy of the White Center Business Journal.

Location: White Center Heights Park

Date: Saturday, June 25

Time: 9am-1pm

Activity: Vital work to benefit the wildlife and plant community.  Maintenance/invasive removal around restoration plantings

Event Description:

Thanks to a generous donation by the Starbucks Coffee Company, White Center Heights Park received an ‘Ultimate Park Makeover’ in 2007.  Almost overnight, this previously run-down urban park was transformed into a safe and enjoyable gathering place for the surrounding community.  With the help of 1,500 volunteers, this park is now home to a grass berm amphitheater, community garden, walking trail, pea patch, and picnic shelter and tables.

White Center Heights Park is surrounded by enhanced Class II wetlands and has a large year round pond, making the park a great place for wildlife, as well as the community, to gather.  In a heavily urban environment, these natural areas provide needed refuge for resident wildlife species and others just passing through.   Massive amounts of blackberry, Scot’s Broom, and knotweed have been removed over the past two years, and the whole site has been replanted with native trees and shrubs.  At this event, we will be removing invasive re-sprouts to prevent them from gaining  a foothold.

Your volunteer efforts will protect our young native plantings from being overtaken by invasives, and jumpstart their journey toward becoming a mature and healthy forested wetland community.  Besides helping the park and community of White Center Heights, you’ll be helping yourself too!  Getting outside and doing physical work in the sunny summer weather is a great way to improve your health and well-being.  Hope to see you there!

Additional Information:
Tools, work gloves, water, and light snacks will be provided.

This event will happen rain or shine, so be sure and dress for the weather!

What to bring:

-          Clothes you don’t mind getting dirty

-          Layers - non-cotton recommended

-          Rain coat

-          Closed toed shoes or rubber boots - sturdy shoes for working in uneven terrain

-          Lunch/snack

-          Water

Volunteers must be able to work on uneven terrain and in inclement weather.  The site is not wheelchair accessible.

Restrooms - There is a Honey Bucket on site.

This is a family-friendly event, so please feel free to bring your kids!  Young children are welcome with a parent’s supervision.  Minimum age to volunteer is 5 years if accompanied by an adult.

This event is a great opportunity for students to earn community service hours.  Youth ages 16 and over can volunteer without parental supervision if they bring a King County youth liability waiver with parent signature to the event.

Website:  http://www.kingcounty.gov/recreation/parks/inventory/whitecenterheights.aspx

To sign up for this event, request a youth waiver, or for more information, please contact:

Rachel Maranto: 206-849-4406, rachel.maranto@kingcounty.gov

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.

Also visit White Center Now for their rundown and gallery of photos and the West Seattle Herald/White Center News for the same. We’ll have official event photos, courtesy of Youth Media Institute, in our photo gallery soon.

We’ll see you at next year’s White Center Spring Clean - Saturday, May 19, 2012!