By Gregory Davis

Being asked to share any highlights of what RBAC is doing halfway through the year is a very, very pleasing task and daunting. Our work is full of twists and turns, ups and downs as anyplace and admittedly there is a lot to share. Do know this, our mission is clear, the hopes and dreams of our residents are on the record. The following is a short, but not all inclusive list of highlights: We launched the RB Farm Stand last week (June 15). We held our second annual fundraising luncheon (June 2, met goal of $30k). We started Recreating Henderson Street Street design concept (www.recreatinghendersonstreet.org). We recalibrated our board of directors and now have a Executive Council and an Advisory Council to deepen the involvement of residents in RBAC’s day to day work (RBAC Executive/Advisory Council Sign Up). 8 RBAC staff (youth and adults) have been trained and certified in CPR/First Aid and are present when we activate pearls in the neighborhood through our youth and neighborhood engagement and crime prevention through environmental design methodologies. We held our first Rainier Beach Town Hall on Food Justice where we gathered youth in the area who are involved in food sovereignty and food access work. We introduced the term “Branches” to describe our four, previously referred to, action areas – blue is A Place For Everyone, green is Healthy Food Healthy Industry, Black is Life Long Learning, and Orange is A Beautiful Safe Place. We hold monthly Sisters and Brothers Holding Space circles to support the wellbeing of our staff. We have started the planning for the 21st edition of the Rainier Beach Back2School Bash. We are fiscal agents for two tremendous efforts Northwest Tap Connection (local black-led dance company) and Acacia Council (Black youth entrepreneur mentoring project). Finally we are so proud of the RBAC Growth Center and the progress of the tenant improvements there. The awnings just got installed and this fabulous building will house our Food Hub (Farm Stand, CSA subscription), a circle space area, a sound studio and test kitchen and staff desks. Naturally this does not include all the activity that occurred in the first half of 2024 but it is a a great start. See you in the neighborhood.