Community Summit 2012

If you have not seen it on TV yet check out our commercial for the community summit coming up on Dec.8th. Please registered at the following link “Register Now”.

White Center-Promise Summer Celebration-Friday, August 31st, 2012

“Success from cradle to college and career”

(White Center, WA)-Promise Summer Celebration 2012-Come celebrate the implementation phase of the White Center Promise Initiative. Get information about what implementation will look like, enjoy the company of your neighbors and enjoy a great time with free local food and performers.

To register and find out more information please click the following link: Promise Registration. Registration deadline is August 25th, 2012. Register before the deadline to recieve a “Special” parent gift and a book bag for your child.

To volunteer, please register at the following link: Volunteer Registration. You can register online or print out a registration form. Please fax registration forms to 206.658.8344 or drop it off at the CDA office located at 1615 Cambridge St. If you are under 18 please fill out a youth waiver form found at the above link.

Volunteers are needed!! To sign-up as a volunteer, please visit the following link: Volunteer Registration or contact Julie Hubbs, AmeriCorp VISTA Volunteer Manager and Fund Developer at 206.694.1082 x175 or at whitecentercda@gmail.com. Volunteers will recieve a complimentary T-shirt, refreshments and food at the event.

{ CLICK ON THE ABOVE IMAGE TO VIEW VIDEO }

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 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.

YOU CAN ALSO RSVP ONLINE! CLICK HERE TO RSVP.

The Promise Neighborhood Community Engagement Approach is community friendly and culturally competent. It has a couple of components including an educational/information campaign and survey. The Survey is available through a variety of means and in many home languages (Spanish, Vietnamese, Cambodian, Somali & Arabic). The Effort has an emphasis on going to the people to learn from them and start where people live.

Residents & Community Members from White Center Promise Zone, White Center Community Development Association, King County Housing Authority, Highline Public Schools, Southwest Youth and Family Services and Cambodian Cultural Alliance of Washington have been engaging parents over the past month and a half through a community survey. Parents are asked about what it takes for their children to be successful in school and life. Parents share their hopes for great schools and quality teachers where their children can feel supported to be successful and confident. Many parents share that their support networks include their parents, family members, caring professionals, church, and after school programs.  Neighborhood Mothers and Fathers also talk about the need for community centers, counseling programs, free activities for youth during the summer and tutoring programs.

Cambodian New Year Event, April 30:

Spring Clean, May 14:

CDA Membership Mixer (Social), May 20:

Math Market Nights and Coffee Hours:

Greenbridge Community Council Meeting, May 14:

Join the Promise Neighborhood Community Engagement Team and talk to your neighbors and parents about what it takes for their children to be successful in school and life. Share your ideas and opinions to guide a brighter future for the youth of White Center by taking the Promise Neighborhood Community Survey here - www.whitecenterpromise.org.

We’ve created a survey to help guide our Promise Neighborhood efforts in White Center. Please take a few moments to fill out the survey here:

WWW.WHITECENTERPROMISE.ORG

Please forward this survey to your family, friends, neighbors and concerned community members.

We will draw ONE name from our survey participants on Friday, JULY 22 to win a $25 Safeway gift card! Here’s all you have to do to be eligible:

1. Entries must be submitted by NOON on Friday, July 22.

2. Participants must include their full name and contact information in order to receive their prize.

We will announce the winner at our July 22 White Center Promise event. More details to come. Winner does not need to be present to receive prize.

VISION

White Center Promise is a long-term initiative aimed at eradicating poverty in White Center through a continuum of educational results that brings about social change.  Our goal is that all children in White Center will graduate from high school and earn a post-secondary credential that leads to a living wage career. We will align the voices, work and resources of community members, community organizations and area institutions across sectors to ensure that we eliminate barriers and provide a foundation for family and student success.

To read the rest of the Theory of Change, go to www.whitecenterpromise.org. It is currently under construction.

Courtesy of the Seattle-Pi.com: Health Sciences & Human Services High School (at Evergreen HS) student Meseret “Missy” Alemu is profiled with her family in an article about going to college. Read the article here. Photo by Joshua Trujillo for Seattle-Pi.com.

Photo: Family Connections Learning through Cooking Event at White Center Heights Elementary, March 2011.

We are proud to share with you the accomplishments from last year and give a preview of our 2011 work. First up is Family Development. We will report out on our Neighborhood Revitalization and Community Building work soon!

Family Development: Our “People” based two -generation work (parent and child)

Our Goal:  Families are economically stable, connected, and access culturally competent and effective services.

In 2011, our work includes our Family Connections program- a social network that advances literacy, health and economic opportunities for multi-lingual families at our three elementary schools through data-driven assessments, targeted referrals and resident leadership. Our Mount View Healthy Learners is a comprehensive, evidenced based effort to implement a set of targeted strategies for the purpose of improving third grade reading abilities for the students at highest academic risk. And we are embarking upon a “cradle through college to career” education reform plan called the White Center Promise Neighborhoods to help families achieve educational success in a targeted geographic zone in White Center. Lastly, our Family Economic Success workgroup promotes best practices and partnership for job seekers and family advancement, this year especially focused on pre-apprenticeships, construction trades and the Got Green program.

2010 Successes:

Family Connections served 117 families (514 individuals, 96% people of color, 77% spoke languages other than English at home) and increased early learning involvement, reading at home, attendance and academic data as a result of our program.

Mount View Healthy Learners helped 81 students with direct reading interventions and over 500 students received comprehensive academic and development assessments. For this school year, 70% of all third graders tested at benchmark for reading proficiency (up from 58% the previous year) and 100% of students were assessed for academic and developmental concerns.

With our core partners, SW Youth and Family Services, Highline Public Schools and many others, CDA raised funds to complete the Promise Neighborhoods business plan with funding from local private foundations and corporations.

Got Green successfully trained 15 low income, young adults of color in weatherization installation, with 10 gaining employment. Over 600 residents and 70 volunteers were educated on the green economy.

Through partnerships with Airport Jobs, Basic Food Employment Training and others, 1,090 residents were placed in jobs of which 47% included health benefits.

Basic Food Employment Training/DSHS: Advocated for $19.25m of new funding to strengthen the neighborhood jobs pipeline, serving 17,000 individuals including 2,700 residents in White Center.