2020 RBAC Life In Review By the Numbers!

Now is typically when organizations do a year end review and this year RBAC, the Rainier Beach Action Coalition! will be no exception. The approach being taken is looking at 2020 by the numbers. It may get a bit monotonous but to cite these accomplishments at all, them having occurred during a pandemic is remarkable, and you have never heard me use the word remarkable. And of course you can compare your numbers to our numbers…that’s one value of numbers. But don’t stop there, add your numbers to our numbers and the numbers of others grinding during this time, then imagine a word beyond remarkable. First there needs to be a harkening back to 2013 when Rainier Beach Community Empowerment Coalition (RBCEC) and Rainier Beach Moving Forward (RBMF) decided to merge. RBMF wanted to grow and RBCEC wanted to ensure the Rainier Beach Neighborhood Plan Update is community driven and a provision of ready made content for FreedomNet exists. As you can read we were telling folk in 2014 if you really want social justice to exist, the community needs to lead. Anyway here’s what RBAC did in 2020…by the numbers

24 – the number of consecutive Fridays the Safeway parking lot was activated with a community healing space June 16 – December 3
16 – the number of consecutive Saturdays the Farm Stand team set up to distribute free seasonal fruits and vegetables to the community June 16 – October 9
350 – the number of families served during the first drive up Back2SchoolBash in RBAC’s history, includes 600 backpacks given away for free August 8
34 – the number of RBAC staff that were able to continue working the whole year (25 are young adults between the age of 15-24 years old. January 1 – December 31
520 – the number of meetings RBAC workers convened to get their work done in 2020 (no less than 10/week January 1 – December 31
79, 39, 20 – the number of assessments, referrals and placements respectively that occurred to get, primarily African American males, working in the construction industry February 1 – December 31
691 – the number of twitter post that showed positive activity occurring in Rainier Beach (RBAC citizen journalist posted on the RB News Wire) February 1 – December 31
24, 138 – the number of RBAC workers who earned credentials and the total number of credentials earned by RBAC workers March 2020 – December 15
80 – the number of circles held to build relationships, address issues, and build skills February 1 – December 31
2 – the number of citizen journalist who exceeded the century mark in RB News Wire post February – December 31
3073, 66 – the number of RB News Wire Post and contributors since 2016
24,000 sq ft – the size of the parcel RBAC will develop the future Food Innovation Center. October 30, 2020
12 – the number of tables RBAC sits at on behalf of the Rainier Beach neighborhood January 1 – December 31
15 – the number of projects the 6 members of the Beach Fives project team undertake January 1 – December 31
7 – the number of volunteer community leaders who served on the RBAC Board January 1 – December 31
1,040,000 – the number of dollars RBAC secured to deliver services to the RBAC community and beyond in 2020. January 1 – December 31
8 – The number of raised beds RBAC use to grow vegetables and herbs in the Rainier Beach neighborhood. (3 at Chief Sealth Trail and Henderson, 5 at MLK and Fairbanks)
50 – The number of new followers RBAC’s FreedomNet citizen journalists had February – December
13 – the number of new organizations trained in CW-PBIS by the PBIS
6 – Young people in RBAC who launched a new program called Yatta Rising
3 – the number of virtual public events we did that were traditionally in person
35, 441, 11, 1000, 90 the number of people on, the number of views, shares, people reached and comments from the RB Town Hall Meeting on Food Justice/Public Safety December 9
100 – the number of bags of litter filled by the Clean Crew partnered with Garden crew
20 – the number of Healing circles held at the Safeway, consecutive despite weather and pandemic
4 the number of garden beds created out of unused planter strips on MLK between Henderson and Director Street
100 – the number of website postings on www.rbcoalition.org this year
10 – the number of Movie nights held as opportunities to refresh from the frustrations of schooling virtually
25 – the number of Rainier Beach residents who participated in the Rainier Beach Community Clean Up Challenge
39 – the number of Beach Fresh sessions which helped create and maintain jobs
3 – the number of completed sessions of System’s Change and Wellness Core classes through the YATTA Rising project. Each session averaged 12 participants per class, each session with no less than 8 classes
6,000 – the number of pounds the Farm Stand disbursed for free to our community during the recent Farm Stand season June – October

The numbers would not be possible without partners. There are too many to list here but these stand out – Rainier Beach residents and families, 2020 Unsung Heroes, WA-BLOC, the Youth Consortium, City of Seattle (departments and the Executive Office), King County, Race and Social Equity Taskforce (RSET), Rainier Valley Communities of Opportunity (RVC-COO), RVC, Seattle Foundation, Mom Demand Action, the Kresge Foundation, Rainier Beach A Beautiful Safe Place for Youth, Forterra, King County Equity Now, Team4Land, South CORE, Rainier Beach Economic Development Roundtable, and families of RBAC staff. We end this tribute to the work being done in the Rainier Beach this neighborhood with an African proverb and may this ancestral insight from the motherland carry you into 2021 with an even greater commitment to social justice. Be Well! “A spider’s cobweb isn’t only its sleeping spring but also its food trap”. — African proverb