Rainier Beach Community Empowerment Coalition

Nominees were noted for their exemplary service to families and for their commitment to improve the Rainier Beach neighborhood. This award, in its fourth year, was created to acknowledge the work of the unsung heroes of our neighborhood; those who toil just below the radar but who have been engaged in that toil for a period of time and over that time have positively impacted lives. Most will not see these deserved people or organizations names in the headlines, in fact their work will hardly have been noticed by the general public.

Individuals nominated for the 2011 RB Unsung Hero Awards were Tammy Nguyen of Got Green and Glenn McCray of Urban Impact. Organizations nominated were Rainier Beach Community Center Advisory Committee, Rainier Beach Neighborhood Plan Update Advisory Committee, Urban Impact, Rainier Beach Back2School Bash Organizers and Community in Schools at Rainier Beach High School.

The RB Unsung Hero Awards is part of the Lift Every Voice Campaign sponsored by the Rainier Beach Community Empowerment Coalition to get Rainier Beach residents engaged in taking responsibility for the perception of their neighborhood.

2009 Winners Individuals: Pam Berry (South Seattle Community Youth Orchestra), Secret Charles (Community Coalition for Environmental Justice), Organizations/Programs : Communities Uniting Rainier Beach (POCAAN), South Seattle Crime Prevention Council;

2008 Winners Individuals : Dawn Blanch (RB 2014 Plan), Barbara Moore (Principal South Lake High School) , Organizations/Programs : Southeast Effective Development (SEED), African American Reach and Teach Health (AARTH), Urban Impact;

2007 Winners Individuals: Young Pham (Rainier Beach Community Center Computer Center), Montez Patterson (Union Gospel Mission), Betty Patu (Rainier Beach High School), Tamsen Spangler (ASC Rainier Beach Family Center) , Organizations/Programs : Rainier Beach Community Center Advisory Council, Atlantic Street Center, ACORN, Rainier Beach Family Center Grandparents and Kinship in Action. For more information about the RB Awards go to www.rbcoalition.org .

Public Safety :

King County Youth Chaplaincy is a partnership of churches, parachurch organizations, individuals and like-minded businesses that seeks to provide Christian chaplaincy, mentoring and after-release pastoral care for incarcerated juveniles in King County, Washington. In 2011, 693 one-on-one sessions occurred, and our church service attendance in the detention center totaled over 2055. We do not want to see our communities’ youth in detention, we know God can use their detainment for good. We are grateful that we continue to see God at work in the lives of the youth. For more information or to get involved, contact Mike McCormick-Huentelman ( mikem@upc.org ) or Jon Abe ( jabe@urbanimpactseattle.org )

The South Seattle Crime Prevention Council is talking the talk and walking the walk.  This reporter attended a meeting of theirs in the fall where talk of walking the Light Rail Statations and pathways in neighborhoods began. Since then all 3 light rail stations have been walked, including the Rainier Beach Satation. Crime has decreased in the areas they have started this activity.

They meet monthly on the first Wednesday of the month at the Southeast Seattle Senior Center – 4655 South Holly Street – at the southwest corner of Rainier Avenue South and South Holly Street.  The meetings begin promptly at 7pm, ending at 8:45pm.  The final 15 minutes of each meeting are dedicated to South Precinct Advisory Committee.

Economic Development :

The Rainier Beach Merchants Association conducted its first meeting of the year by welcoming in new leadership.  Curtis Brown, member of Emerald City Bible Fellowship Church and Executive Director of the South East Senior Center Foundation began his tenure as Chair.  Top issues include improving their Facebook presence, Rainier Beach Community Center construction and programming, Public Art Walk Rainier Beach, creating opportunities for members to enhance their relationships with local public institutions (King Donut and Rainier Beach High School).  The next meeting is February 22, 2012 1pm Rose Café, 8136 Rainier Avenue South- food will be provided

The Rainier Valley Chamber wants to know “What would you want to tell the governor to make sure Washington state’s regulations support your business? They want to hear from you to relay your answers.  Respond by the end of the week to Susan Davis, Executive Director, Rainier Chamber of Commerce(206) 725-2010, mail@rainierchamber.com .

Family Life:

Very serious conversations are occurring regarding the programming for the Rainier Beach Community Center once it opens in fall of 2013.  The Rainier Beach Community Center Advisory Council (the 2011 Unsung Hero Awardee) and other neighborhood leaders are talking with Seattle Parks and Recreation and ARC leadership about how to get the most out of the resources that exist.  A budget has not been developed for center operation (budget discussions start this year) to open at a Tier 1 level – 70+ hours per week, $1million annually. To do this Parks would have to pull resources from other community centers.  The neighborhood stakeholders are sayin “so what?”, the fact that the center has been closed for two years has been a cost savings to the system, we want to open as a Tier 1 site.  Both side agree that doing a Request for Interest/Investment (RFI) would be helpful in finding out who is interested and has the capacity to offer programming that will help get the center to 100 hours of operation.   Stay tuned!