Corner Greeters
"Corner Greeter events bring people together to foster interaction that builds community. They are designed to engage passers-by in fun activities and information sharing"
Vision
We envision a Rainier Beach in which all members of the community take an active role in creating and maintaining a beautiful, safe place for everyone.
We believe that the Corner Greeter program has the power to sustainably transform the neighborhood into a place where residents fear neither crime nor displacement, and where community-based, youth-led organizations consistently collaborate to solve local problems.
Ultimately, we hope that this program will result in a whole volunteer network of adults, youth, businesses, and organizations that continue on the legacy of community-organized public safety strategies.
Program Description
The primary goal is to develop a following of neighborhood volunteers (residents, businesses, youth, families, and organizations) to provide stewardship of the Corner Greeters and guardianship of the geographic focus area space they live, work and/or play in.
Rainier Beach Action Coalition (RBAC) who operates this youth and neighborhood intervention has placed young adults in charge of running the Corner Greeters and would like the neighborhood to take leadership from them. Most are high school students from Rainier Beach High School. A Mobile Discovery Center and Southeast Seattle FreedomNet are regularly on-site contributing to an innovative nonarrest crime intervention for our neighborhood.
How You Can Be Involved
There are plenty of ways for all members of this community to support the work of our amazing Corner Greeters. Please consider:
- Signing up to volunteer
- Showing up to activation spaces
- Joining our ‘You’ve got RBAC’ monthly donor program
- Partnering with us (local organizations & businesses)
- Supporting policy changes related to public safety & non-arrest crime intervention strategies
Program Outcomes
Activations at neighborhood hotspots ('pearls') or scouting events
Corner Greeter activations are pop-up style events that provide opportunities for community interaction, engagement, and information or resource distribution
Community Safety Surveys
Our team also collects valuable information from the public through Community Safety Surveys.
Promoting safety through local partnerships
Corner Greeters meet weekly to review the latest crime trends at the ‘pearls’ and to identify potential partnership opportunities with local businesses and organizations.
Corner Greeter News
Partners
- Boys & Girls Club of King County
- Seattle Police Department
- George Mason University’s Center for Evidence-Based Crime Policy
- Seattle Department of Neighborhoods
- City of Seattle
- Seattle Public Schools
- Moms Demand Action
- SE Network Safety Net
- Seattle Neighborhood Group
- WA-BLOC
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