Wadajir Residences & Souq, Forterra NW in Tukwila (Photo Forterra)
By Caleb Randall Bodman
WASHINGTON, D.C. – Representative Adam Smith (D-Wash.) today issued the following statement after the House of Representatives passed the government spending package by a vote of 260 to 171. The package includes over $9 million in funding for ten community projects across Washington’s Ninth District that Rep. Smith secured through the appropriations process for Fiscal Year (FY) 2022.
“Today, after many months of negotiations, I am incredibly proud to announce that the House passed the omnibus spending package, which includes over $9 million for the ten community projects I requested. These projects will help tackle some of the most pressing challenges facing communities across the Ninth District, making real progress to address housing and homelessness, health care and social services, child care, education and workforce training, and small businesses and entrepreneurship. On housing alone, the projects have the potential to create over 650 new units of affordable rental housing, temporary emergency housing, and affordable homes for ownership.
“I firmly believe the federal government must do more to spur investment in and get federal dollars to underserved communities and I am proud to use my community project funding requests for this purpose. I thank the project sponsors and partners for their tireless leadership to improve the lives of people in the Ninth District.”
Background
Rep. Adam Smith secured $9,039,000 for ten community projects across Washington’s Ninth District. The community projects focus on our most vulnerable and underserved communities, including people experiencing homelessness, immigrants and refugees, seniors, low-income communities, and communities of color.
See below for a comprehensive list of the Fiscal Year (FY) 2022 Community Projects secured by Rep. Adam Smith through the appropriations process.
$600,000 for the African Diaspora Cultural Anchor Village (ADCAV), African Community Housing & Development in Tukwila
The African Diaspora Cultural Anchor Village (ADCAV) will be a mixed-use development to support the African immigrant and refugee community in South King County and the Puget Sound region. The ADCAV will include a learning center for youth and young adults, workforce development center, senior and community gathering space, and outdoor areas with urban gardens and a playground. The second phase of this work will result in desperately needed affordable homeownership units for families and a small business incubator with ground floor retail.
$1,591,000 for the AiPACE Adult Day Center and Clinic, Aging in PACE Washington (AiPACE) in Beacon Hill
The AiPACE Adult Day Center and Clinic will provide holistic and culturally- and linguistically-relevant services to low-income, nursing-home-eligible Asian and Pacific Islander elders through the evidence-based, nationally recognized Program of All-Inclusive Care for the Elderly (PACE). This is the first such program in Washington State designed specifically for API elders, helping them to age in place – in communities already familiar to them – and maintain health and well-being.
$673,000 for the Entrepreneurship Incubation Hub: Teaching & Commercial Kitchen for Refugee & Immigrant Community, World Relief Seattle in Kent
The funding secured through the appropriations process will help World Relief develop a teaching and commercial kitchen that will be a multi-impact community space serving Washington State’s King County refugee and immigrant population. This space will be used as an entrepreneurship and small business incubation hub to launch and promote local businesses, particularly food-based businesses, and train refugee and immigrant entrepreneurs through an Entrepreneurship Academy hosted in the space. The project will promote entrepreneurship and successful small business ownership within historically underserved communities; advance community based economic empowerment through promoting food related businesses and income-generating initiatives; and simultaneously increase food security and sovereignty for refugee and immigrant communities.
$1,000,000 for the Youth Achievement Center, Africatown Community Land Trust in Columbia City
The Youth Achievement Center (YAC) is being developed by a community-based coalition focused on addressing the various systemic obstacles that Black and Brown youth in South Seattle and King County face. It will provide permanent and emergency housing for youth, community services and programming for youth, and space for commercial businesses.
$1,000,000 for the Wadajir Residences & Souq, Forterra NW in Tukwila
The Wadajir Residences & Souq is a mixed-use attainable housing and commercial development project that will provide affordable cooperative ownership opportunities in Tukwila. With rising rents and the closure or sale of international markets in Tukwila and SeaTac, the BIPOC immigrant and East-African communities in South King County are facing displacement. The funding secured through the appropriations process will help combat this by enabling 100 units of affordable housing and 60 micro retail units for small businesses. The new businesses will generate quality, family-wage jobs and economic growth for the region and increase economic mobility.
$1,000,000 for the MLK Mixed Use Affordable Housing and Early Learning Center, Low Income Housing Institute in Rainier Valley
The MLK Mixed Use Affordable Housing and Early Learning Center (MLK Mixed Use) will provide 152 apartment units for low-income and homeless families and individuals and an early learning center and play area operated by the Refugee Women’s Alliance (ReWA). The funding secured through the appropriations process will allow for the development of much needed affordable housing for low-income and homeless families and individuals in a neighborhood that is experiencing massive displacement and gentrification.
$1,050,000 for the Maritime High School (MHS), Highline Public Schools in South King County
The Highline School District, the Port of Seattle, Duwamish River Cleanup Coalition DRCC, and the Northwest Maritime Center have collaborated to design and launch a stand-alone Maritime High School (MHS) in South King County. The vision for MHS is to provide a world-class education, within a historically impacted community, that advances the next generation of leaders, innovators, and professionals across maritime related fields. The funding secured through the appropriations process will help MHS to establish inclusive programs, policies, and practices to ensure that maritime career opportunities are accessible to all students, focusing on the school’s capacity to recruit, prepare, and empower students who are under-represented in maritime and ocean science careers.
$1,000,000 for the Keiro Site, Africatown Community Land Trust in the Central District
The Keiro Site is a mixed-use project that will provide opportunities for affordable rental housing, economic development, and community space in the Central District of Seattle; a historically Black neighborhood that is experiencing intense gentrification and displacement pressures. The Keiro Site is expected to create approximately 300 units of affordable rental housing to combat growing displacement and will have dedicated space for culturally relevant early childhood education, a critical need in the Central District, and will provide economic opportunities for Black-owned businesses.
$775,000 for Health One Expansion, City of Seattle
Health One is oriented toward service to vulnerable and under-represented communities and individuals who struggle to access health and social services. The funding secured through the appropriations process will add capacity to Seattle’s award-winning Health One program to respond to referrals and nonviolent emergency 911 calls with behavioral health professionals and crisis care management teams. The new funding will help create another response team, which will allow Health One to reach an additional 1,000 individuals through referrals each year. The current Health One program, and similar diversion programs for non-violent 911 calls, have demonstrated success in providing more appropriate behavioral and mental health support than traditional 911 response, reducing unnecessary interactions between police and community members, and helping ensure emergency response programs are meeting the needs of the community.
$350,000 for the Family First Community Center – Health Clinic, HealthPoint in Renton
HealthPoint will bring quality health clinic and wellness programs to the new Family First Community Center (FFCC) in Renton. The full-service primary care clinic will include medical, behavioral health, and dental care. The new clinic will eliminate many of the transportation and financial barriers to accessing health care currently experienced by low-income families in the Cascade and Benson Hill community.
