RB Tickler January 2014
Inspiring Involvement, Building Community

Just a reminder – you are receiving this email because you have expressed an interest in the Rainier Beach neighborhood.  Don’t forget to add rainierbeachmovingforward@gmail.com to your address book so that we will be sure to land in your inbox! Also be sure to pass this on to others in the neighborhood.  We want everyone to know what is going on.

Want to know what is going on in Rainier Beach……..keep reading
One Neighborhood – One World
A Free Concert presented by
The Southeast Seattle Community Youth Orchestra
January 16, 2014, 6:45 PM
The Paul Robeson Performing Arts Center at Rainier Beach High School
8815 Seward Park Avenue South, Seattle, WA 98118
Commentary is not usually a part of the RB Tickler, but this month we have to break from form and replace the usual fare with a word about the event above.Southeast Seattle has a YOUTH ORCHESTRA! (Although they rehearse and perform in Rainier Beach) People did you hear me? Southeast Seattle has a YOUTH ORCHESTRA!

January 16th the night the Southeast Seattle Community Youth Orchestra (SSCYO) performs is the culmination of a dream to have the cultures represented in Rainier Beach come together through music.  Pam Berry, the dreamer in this case, knows the value of the arts and she sees the many cultures residing in Rainier Beach not crossing boundaries to develop relationship with those outside them. Her dream that cultures come together and create a music composition is a symbol that boundaries should be crossed and life giving relationships can be developed across cultures and ethnicities. Funded in part by a City of Seattle Department of Neighborhoods Neighborhood Matching Fund grant, this event promises to be entertaining, inspiring and community building.

What better symbol to have as we head into the year 2014.  The Rainier Beach neighborhood itself will be taking strides this year to be intentional about crossing boundaries through multiple projects and initiatives, all intended to enhance quality of life for all who live, play, study, worship and shop here. Be on the lookout for Rainier Beach Moving Forward who will see to it that all aspects of the Rainier Beach 2014 Neighborhood Plan gets carried out and stewarded by the community itself.    RBMF is not working towards a better Rainier Beach on behalf of the neighborhood, but with and in relation to the neighborhood. Its goals are to create the opportunities and lasting relationships that will influence and achieve the goals of RB 2014 and more.  The most important issue for RBMF is focusing on how to strengthen the relationship between nonprofit organizations, businesses and residents when addressing local issues.

Projects and initiatives that will support this are: Rainier Beach Town Hall meeting, Back2School Bash, Artwalk Rainier Beach, Rainier Beach Food Innovation Center, monthly Action Team Meetings, Rainier Beach Summit, Construction Careers Advisory Committee, A Beautiful Safe Place for Youth – Hot Spot Research project, Rainier Beach Merchants Association, South Community Organizing for Regional and Racial Equity (SCORE), Rainier Beach International High School PTSA and International Baccalaureate Ambassadors, Rainier Beach Urban Farm and Wetlands fund development campaign, Lower Mapes Creek Restoration and Daylighting, Rainier Valley Greenways, Rainier Beach Community Club, SE Seattle FreedomNet, Rainier Beach Transit Justice Youth Corps, and Southeast Seattle Education Coalition. Of course Rainier Beach Community Center will be hopping, The Rainier Beach High School Boys Basketball team will seek its third straight state title, South Shore, South Lake, Dunlap, Rainier View and Emerson will continue educating our children, our business will continue to strive for better customer service and meeting the product needs of our residents.  I am going to end here, plenty has been shared, but much more is to come. Join us in making Rainier Beach the place we all desire it to be, if nothing else get out to see our YOUTH ORCHESTRA and get a glimpse of what is in store for Rainier Beach in 2014.
Rainier Beach Snapshots

Life Long Learning

+Family Life – “Breaking the Pane” a United Story’s initiative aimed at engaging the Rainier Valley in civic engagement and connecting the residents more readily to the existing organizations serving their community. In the coming weeks, South Seattle residents will have the opportunity to gather in four locations to share their stories regarding the perception and reality of their community’s identity. These stories will be written on a pane of glass and used to assemble a mosaic window of the community’s narrative. This window will be featured as the center of our community gathering which will include performances, art, dialogue, and voting on a 21-day challenge aimed at shattering the perception on the Rainier Valley and asserting the reality of how the community views itself to the greater Seattle city. A round table discussion and planning meeting is occurring this Thursday Jan 15, 5:30-6:30 @ Urban Impact  and  Saturday Jan 17, 10-11am @ the RB Library.

+Education – Urban Impact is currently recruiting tutors for our after-school “Homework Center” (HWC) program which operates as a drop-in homework help/college prep program in the Rainier Beach HS Library Mon-Thurs from 2:30-4:30pm.  HWC average between 30-40 students’ daily seeking help in all core subjects, especially math.  Tutors can volunteer as many day(s) a week as they prefer.  Greatest need is Wed/Thurs afternoon.  This is a low time commitment, highly rewarding experience for community members interested in connecting with the amazing students of RB and offering academic support and mentorship.  Contact Laura Wright at lwright@urbanimpactseattle.org/206.722.2052  if you are interested.
A Beautiful Safe Place

+Public Safety – The Mayor’s Office is inviting the community to comment on desired qualities for the new Police Chief. Community engagement is essential to selecting a leader who can manage police reforms and build officer morale.  Saturday, February 1, 12-2 p.m., Van Asselt Community Center, Multi-purpose Room 2920 S Myrtle St..
A Place for Everyone

+Transportation – As you know transportation decisions and services impact us all, but especially our immigrant, youth, low-income communities. Transportation networks provide vital connections for us all to the economic, social and cultural opportunities which make our region thrive. As the City of Seattle, the King County Metro, Sound Transit and Washington State move into making important decisions about transportation’s future, it is essential that we come together at the table and put forth the most equitable transportation policy options. Puget Sound Sage, One America and Transportation Choices Coalition would like to invite you to a rally with Maya Wiley and The Center for Social Inclusion (CSI) to build support for an equitable transit system. January 23, 2014 4:30-6 pm Rainier Beach Community Center  8825 Rainier Ave S, Seattle, WA 98118 Multi-Purpose Room We will have food; hear from community leaders and racial justice leader Maya Wiley. We will share transit stories, and then march next door for the King County Metro Community Meeting taking place from 6-8pm, where they will be talking about the bus service cuts, that will happen if a new funding initiative does not pass in April. Please RSVP:rebecca@pugetsoundsage.com.

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