by J Seattle
(This article includes reporting by Capitol Hill Seattle Blog)
Seattle has announced its largest ever annual round of city funding for affordable housing with $110 million going to help start 13 projects across the city including five new buildings in Rainier Beach, Beacon Hill, and Othello that will create 861 affordable units in South Seattle. Continue reading Seattle Announces $110M for New Affordable Projects Including Five in District 2
by Marcus Harrison Green
With four children, two jobs, oversight of three teen late night programs at just as many community centers, and a desire to be on his loving wife’s good side with perfect “date night” attendance, Cortez Charles knows it would’ve been impossible to pull off Rainier Beach’s fifth annual Turkey Bowl Week alone. Continue reading City Unity, Community Reliance at Heart of Turkey Bowl Week
By Carolyn Bick
Gloria Sferra remembers when her late husband “went completely insane,” because a young woman decided to board her horse in the couple’s farmstead basement, right after Sferra’s husband had finished remodeling the space.
Then, there was the time a fox decided to bring his entire family to live on the farm. The canine family soon became used to the presence of people –– so much so that they eventually became almost tame.
“One night, I stayed in my barn, and I almost had a stroke, because here comes my kitty … and here are the foxes, and I’m thinking, ‘Oh, my God, my cat is going to get eaten in front of me, before my very eyes,’” Sferra recalled. “And the fox just totally ignored him –– he wandered into the barn and cuddled up with me.”
Continue reading In Photos: Seattle Farm celebrates 100 years
by Susan Fried
A little boy told his dad he only wanted a little off the top as he and his father and older brother walked into the Rainier Beach Community Center for Fathers and Sons Togethers Barbershop Chat, Chew and Play. The event is held twice a year — in February during Black History Month and at the end of August, just before school starts. Participants can get free haircuts, lunch and valuable information about health and wellness. Ten volunteer barbers from more than half a dozen shops cut the hair of numerous boys, their dads and family members. While they waited for haircuts, the families heard speeches from a variety of experts in healthcare, financial security, and access to sports like golf.
Continue reading FAST Connects Fathers and Children at Biannual Barbershop Chat
by Naomi Ishisaka
Chanting “Say it loud, say it clear, equal education here,” students from Rainier Beach High School led a walkout on the first day of school.
Around 60 students from different schools including Rainier Beach rallied at the Rainier Beach Community Center on Wednesday to protest inequalities in education funding, inadequate school funding in general and disparities in educational access for Black and Latinx students.
Continue reading On First Day of School, Seattle Students Walk Out Demanding Equal Education
by Aaron Burkhalter
Ready with their walking shoes, they gathered in a small meeting room at the Rainier Beach Community Center to start. After a brief chat, they were ready to enjoy a stroll in the sun.
Continue reading Weekly Rainier Beach Walking Group Blends Health, Safety, and Community
by Susan Fried
Seattle’s DeCharlene Williams started the local Juneteenth Celebration at Pratt Park 36 years ago, at a time when few people outside of Texas knew what Juneteenth was. Juneteenth or Freedom Day celebrates the anniversary of the date the last enslaved people in the United States were freed. Although the Emancipation Proclamation, came into effect on January 1, 1863, the more than 200,000 enslaved people in Texas weren’t notified until June 19, 1865 when the Union Army arrived in Galveston, Texas, and informed the people of Texas that “all slaves are free.”
Continue reading PHOTOS: Celebrating Juneteenth at Pratt Park and Rainier Beach Community Center
