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We’re proud to unveil the White Center Merchant Profile, featuring the stories and history of nine produce markets. The Healthy Foods Here Program and King County Food and Fitness Initiative are sponsors in this project. It is written by Jade Blackwater and designed by Kathi Wheeler. Enjoy!

White Center Community Cultural Center and the Trusted Advocates host Storytelling with

Fadumo Muse and Ahmed Ali
this Friday, October 21, 5:30pm

at the White Center Community Cultural Center
9421 18th Avenue SW, Seattle, 98106

Come hear Fadumo and Ahmed’s life in Somalia
and their experiences of coming to White Center

Everyone is welcome - Bring your friends!!

As proud sponsors, the White Center CDA would like to be the first to announce this event, happening right here in White Center, at White Center Heights Elementary. Please see event flyer below for more information. See you there!

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For more information, CLICK HERE. To RSVP for this event, CLICK HERE.

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Promise Neighborhoods is a place-based initiative created by the federal Department of Education and inspired by the Harlem Children’s Zone. The vision of this program is that all children and youth growing up in a Promise Neighborhood have access to a continuum of great schools and strong systems of family and community support that will prepare them to attain an excellent education and successfully transition to college and a career. The purpose of Promise Neighborhoods is to significantly improve the educational and developmental outcomes of children and youth in our most distressed communities, and to transform those communities.

For more information visit whitecenterpromise.org

Video directed and edited by Jerome Buenaventura

Music featured:
John Legend & the Roots - Wake up everybody feat. Melanie Fiona
John Legend - Shine (Waiting for Superman version)

You have a say on the qualities and characteristics you want Highline’s next superintendent to possess.  What qualities and characteristics should our next leader have?

Voice your opinion at Next Tuesday’s Community Meeting.

Where: White Center Heights Elementary
Address: 10015 - 6th Avenue SW
Seattle, Wa 98146
Date: September 27, 2011
Time: 7:30 PM to 8:30 PM

For more information refer to the Highline Public School’s website.

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 the White Center CDA parking lot at 3:30pm.

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!