Scheduled to open in Seattle’s Capitol Hill neighborhood in December of 2022, The Summit Community Center will address the immense lack of services and support available to neurodivergent young adults exiting the school system. The newly-built, 8800 square foot facility will be a space for young adults aged 18-29 (initially) with intellectual and developmental disabilities to recreate, socialize and connect with their community in a supportive environment that facilitates autonomy, independence, and true engagement. Using a drop-in membership model that offers schedule flexibility, the Center will offer programming to its members across four core pillars: Education, Recreation, Community, and Growth. The creation of the SCC Member Advisory Board will help direct its programming decisions and will always keep the members’ interests and ideas at the forefront. In addition to offering leadership opportunities to members for many of the Center’s functions and activities, the Center will also operate several revenue-generating businesses, either within the center or in the local community through partnerships to provide quality job training and work experience. SCC will be a home-away-from-home in which the neurodivergent young adult can develop a sense of place, true community, friendship, connection and independence.
Alimentando al Pueblo (AAP) was founded, created and is led by the very Community it serves – Latinx Community members of the Highline Service area. Founded in response to the disproportionate impact of COVID-19 on Latinx populations in South King County, Alimentando al Pueblo promotes healing through food, Community and celebrations. For the past two years, AAP has been transforming the ways in which Latinx Community access basic services – we created and innovated at a time where crisis was increasing at a global scale. We saw a need, stepped up and into not just delivery of culturally relevant foods to our Community but also provide a space for joy and validation of struggles being amplified. AAP houses the only Latinx food bank in the country.
At the Seattle Aquarium, our mission is Inspiring Conservation of Our Marine Environment. With the health of the ocean and our planet at stake, the Seattle Aquarium is the largest marine science education platform in the Pacific Northwest and is uniquely positioned to play a leading role in ocean conservation efforts in our region and globally. Our new space currently under construction, the Ocean Pavilion, will significantly expand our capacity to engage people in robust educational exhibits, hands-on learning opportunities, inquiry-based classes and scientific research. Only an aquarium can provide face-to-face, enriching experiences with marine life that are essential to building empathy and an ethos of care for our ocean. In addition to our annual visitors, 43,000 students in 500 schools and 200 school districts participated in conservation education programs at the Seattle Aquarium in 2020. From helping pass legislation that reduces ocean plastics and promotes sustainable fisheries to partnering with local organizations to reduce the environmental impact on communities of color, we play an active role in the broader system that shapes our environment. We have played a part in key legislative victories that protect our local endangered orcas and other iconic Pacific Northwest species; and we are an active participant in the Natural Resources Defense Council’s 30×30 campaign to protect at least 30% of the world’s lands and waters by 2030. A PYP grant to support the Seattle Aquariums’ conservation and education programs would help inspire all our visitors to be advocates for our irreplaceable ocean.
