Skip to main content

FY 2023 Community Project Funding Requests

NINTH DISTRICT COMMUNITY PROJECTS, FISCAL YEAR 2023

The government funding package signed into law by President Biden on December 23, 2022, provides historic investments for workers, families, and communities across the country. Importantly, this package includes over $24 million for projects that Rep. Smith successfully secured in the Fiscal Year (FY) 2023 appropriations process, which will help fund 15 community projects across Washington’s Ninth District.

Read on to learn more about these 15 projects:

$4 million for El Centro de la Raza, Pattison’s West Community Campus Property Acquisition in Federal Way

The new Pattison’s West Campus is a mixed-use development of small businesses, workforce housing, youth reengagement, job skill building, and a community center that will be an important part of the community’s recovery from COVID-19 and address long-standing gaps in services available to the community. The project will enable El Centro de la Raza to expand its services in Federal Way and the surrounding community. The requested funding will help El Centro acquire adjacent parcels of land to develop all five properties as a master plan for the new Campus.

El Centro is a trusted community organization that responds to a broad range of community needs among children, youth, adults, and seniors with 43 culturally and linguistically integrative programs and services, including emergency and human services, child and youth programs, financial education and asset building programs, housing and economic development programs, community organizing, advocacy and culture programs.

$4 Million for Somali Health Board, Somali Community Cultural Innovation Hub in the Rainier Valley

The Somali Health Board (SHB), Somali Community Services (SCS) and Al-Noor Center of Washington (ACW) plan to purchase property to build an interconnected community hub led by and for the Somali community, the Somali Community Cultural Innovation Hub. This space will serve as a multigenerational health hub, senior housing community, cultural anchor, early learning and child care space, and community center for Somalis in the face of gentrification and displacement. These properties are also already home to many Somali businesses and establishing this hub will help prevent potential future displacement.

The Somali Cultural Innovation Hub will significantly increase access to services for low-income people throughout Southeast Seattle and be co-located near the future Graham light rail station. Somali newcomers struggle to find adequate housing, overcome trauma and loss, adjust to a vastly different culture, and learn English. They often live in poverty upon arrival and face the compounding systemic barriers of racism and islamophobia. This project responds directly to the needs of the community and is being led by trusted community-based organizations.

$675,000 for Apprenticeship and Nontraditional Employment for Women (ANEW), Pre-Apprenticeship Commercial Driver’s License Program in South King County

This request will allow Apprenticeship and Nontraditional Employment for Women (ANEW) to expand its construction pre-apprenticeship programming and add a Commercial Driver’s Licensing (CDL) program in South King County. With the recently passed infrastructure bill, the construction industry faces a workforce pipeline crisis and the demand for CDL drivers is increasing exponentially. This program will help meet the workforce needs of the region and increase access to family wage careers in construction and transportation fields for women and people of color, serving an additional 50 students in the training program.

ANEW has a demonstrated track record of increasing the number of women and people from underserved communities in the construction trades, focusing their programs at people of color, opportunity youth, and those with low educational attainment. Over the past five years, demand for ANEW’s programs has quadrupled and there are currently more contractors in need of graduates than ANEW is able to produce. In order to meet this demand, this funding will help ANEW establish a new training center which will enable them to increase the number of students graduated each year.

$1 Million for Plymouth Housing, Eastgate Permanent Supportive Housing and Health Clinic in Bellevue

The requested funding will enable Plymouth Housing to establish and expand health care services at the new Eastgate Permanent Supportive Housing, which is a publicly funded low-income housing project that is currently under construction and will open its doors in 2023. The project will serve formerly homeless individuals who make 30% or less of the Area Median Income (AMI) with 92 resident units as well as 3 live-in staff units. Included in the building staff will be 4 Case Managers, a front office that will be staffed 24-7, and maintenance and janitorial personnel.

The building’s design includes plans for a nurse’s clinic and other supportive service areas. The requested funding will allow Plymouth to better meet the needs of the residents, the majority of whom require ongoing medical care, behavioral health services, and addiction recovery support, by helping complete the medical and support spaces. By providing permanent supportive housing that meets individuals’ needs, including health care, Plymouth can provide a permanent home for King County’s most vulnerable residents.

$4 Million for Friends of Little Saigon, Little Saigon Landmark in Little Saigon, Chinatown-International District

The Little Saigon Landmark project will provide affordable housing, affordable commercial space, and a cultural center that is open to the public and is a key community amenity. Little Saigon is recognized as an important part of the historic Chinatown-International District, composed of majority Vietnamese immigrant and refugee family businesses who serve a large population made of low-income families, seniors, and service workers. Over the past ten years, this neighborhood has experienced a high rate of cultural and economic displacement. The current housing inventory in Little Saigon consists of mostly smaller units that poorly match the affordability and household size needs of the neighborhood. In addition, there is a lack of public amenities and services that cater to this cultural population such as community gathering spaces, outdoor green space, and various direct services.

The Little Saigon Landmark project is aimed to serve low-moderate income community members within the AAPI community, as well as provide affordable commercial rents to small businesses. The gathering space, or Vietnamese Cultural Center, will be a social and cultural hub providing programs, resources, and events.

$750,000 for Low Income Housing Institute, Skyway Affordable Housing and Early Learning Center in Skyway

The Skyway Affordable Housing and Early Learning Center is a mixed-use rental project to be developed by a partnership between the Low Income Housing Institute (LIHI) and Childhaven. The project is envisioned as a 43 unit, five-story building with four classrooms and child care in the first floor commercial space.

Skyway has one of the largest populations of African Americans and other people of color in King County. Historic residents of the community are facing displacement as housing costs have risen tremendously. The neighborhood has suffered from a lack of permanent affordable housing and affordable child care. In unincorporated areas like Skyway, LIHI and Childhaven have a unique opportunity to combine their expertise and resources to provide much needed housing and services in a part of King County that has been underserved. This project will increase access to affordable housing and child care and actively combat displacement that continues to threaten the community, especially low-income individuals and communities of color.

$750,000 for African Chamber of Commerce of the Pacific Northwest, African Business Innovation Center (ABIC) in Tukwila

The African Business Innovation Center (ABIC) is envisioned to be a business, economic, and trade hub to help address growing inequities and underinvestment within the workforce and small business community in South King County, especially for African immigrant communities and communities of color. The proposed project will be a mixed-use development to provide space for small businesses, programs and services for African communities, and vocational training and workforce training.

The project will leverage decades of experience from the African Chamber of Commerce of the Pacific Northwest and other partners to specifically help promote economic activity in King County. The current vision would also include space to house community-based organizations and other service providers for African communities and small businesses such as import/export assistance, immigration and legal services, and banking.

$2.2 Million for Sea Mar Community Health Centers, Kent Medical Clinic and Affordable Housing Mixed Use Facility in Kent 

The requested funding will support construction of the medical clinic portion of Sea Mar’s new Kent clinic and affordable housing development. This project will allow Sea Mar to provide increased access to healthcare, culturally sensitive care, as well as affordable and equitable medical and housing services to underserved populations including those of low income, the uninsured or publicly insured, and disenfranchised minority groups.

The Medical Clinic and Affordable Housing Mixed Use Facility will allow Sea Mar to increase the number of patients the organization already serves with its local clinics, as well as provide an updated, integrated system of care unique in the area. Given its distance from other clinics providing services to uninsured and Medicaid patients, and its location in a severely distressed area, Sea Mar anticipates being able to serve 6,000 unduplicated medical patients, 3,960 unduplicated dental patients, and 675 unduplicated behavioral health patients per year once fully operational.

$1 Million for Central District Community Preservation and Development Authority (CD CPDA), McKinney Center Capital Project in the Central District

The Central District Community Preservation and Development Authority (CD CPDA) was created in 2019 by the Washington State Legislature to mitigate the adverse effects of major public works and capital projects on the Central District, a diverse and historically majority African American community that has deep roots in Seattle’s history but faces growing displacement and underinvestment. The CD CPDA’s mission is to drive economic empowerment for African American and other minority and underserved communities through employment, career advancement, education, training, and business development.

The requested funding will support rehabilitation and capital improvements for the McKinney Center for Community & Economic Development, a multi-purpose facility that will serve as a hub for education, workforce training, business development, and other services for the African American community and other minority and underserved communities.

$750,000 for Southeast Seattle Senior Foundation, Southeast Seattle Affordable Housing and Home Ownership in the Rainier Valley

The Southeast Seattle Senior Foundation (Brighton Development Group) is re working to build 200 units of affordable housing and 20 condos to increase BIPOC and middle-income home ownership in Southeast Seattle. The Southeast Seattle Foundation owns multiple properties in the area and is aiming to create a new neighborhood that is economically, culturally, and socially mixed, and be one of the only neighborhoods to reverse displacement.

Southeast Seattle and the Rainier Valley continue to face severe threats from displacement and gentrification. This project will not just help build affordable housing, but actively seeks to reverse displacement. The Southeast Seattle Foundation and Brighton Development Group have a proven track record of affordable housing development in the region.

$500,000 for Congolese Integration Network, Washington Refugee Healing Center in SeaTac

The Congolese Integration Network (CIN) seeks to build a new Refugee Healing Center that will be a service hub, a community building, and a cultural home for refugees and immigrants in King County. CIN has outgrown its current rented spaces in SeaTac, which are no longer adequate to meet the growing needs of the community.

CIN has supported the integration of Congolese and other African immigrants and refugees in the King County area by providing access to critical resources and services. This includes a full range of culturally and linguistically appropriate services to help newcomers address language barriers and housing instability; prevent homelessness; gain skills and economic resources; access information; and build community and family relations. To improve Congolese newcomers’ overall well-being and boost their resilience, CIN also provides trauma-informed social-emotional/psychological care and support, case management, individual and family counseling, youth programs, and referral services/programs.

The Refugee Healing Center will be a central hub for CIN to continue to deepen and expand its services and better meet the needs of the community.

$500,000 for UTOPIA, Mapu Maia Clinic in Kent

UTOPIA and its Mapu Maia Clinic serve as a trusted, culturally aligned, free health care resource for Pacific Islanders in the LGBTQI community. The Mapu Maia Clinic provides resources for substance use and mental health services, including prevention, harm reduction, treatment, and recovery support services. The Mapu Maia Clinic has served the community since the outbreak of the pandemic and has provided health care needs and services to community members through trusted partnerships and volunteer efforts of health care providers and organizations.

This funding would help enable UTOPIA to establish a fully functional drop-in clinic that operates weekly and after-hours to meet the needs of the community members with a range of substance use and mental health related services. This will help UTOPIA meet the specific needs of the LGBTQI community, immigrants, and communities of color that face cultural barriers and exacerbated health disparities. Funding will enable Mapu Maia Clinic to expand the reach of its services to provide needed community and culturally informed health care services and programming.

$1.5 Million for Public Defender Association, Law Enforcement Assisted Diversion (LEAD) program in Chinatown-International District and Southeast Seattle

The requested funding will allow the Public Defender Association to intensify LEAD services in the Chinatown-International District by providing a dedicated screening & outreach coordinator and a dedicated case manager and expand LEAD services for the first time to SE Seattle, including Rainier Beach, Columbia City and Mount Baker.

LEAD (Law Enforcement Assisted Diversion/Let Everyone Advance with Dignity) is an evidence-based, widely supported outreach and case management response to low-level crime related to substance use disorder. LEAD is recognized as a promising practice by the Office of Justice Programs, and is often cited as one of the best-established community-based diversion approaches in the United States. It enjoys widespread support from diverse sectors including law enforcement, civil rights, human services, and community safety leaders.

Many individuals identified for LEAD services in this area need specialized, focused response with (a) language access needs, (b) severe mental illness, and/or (c) legal barriers to public benefits and green cards/work authorization. The particular neighborhoods that are proposed to receive enhanced (Chinatown International District) or initial (Southeast Seattle) LEAD services through community project funding are vulnerable communities dominated by racially diverse small businesses owners who are challenged in recovery from the COVID economic crisis. This funding will provide a community-based public safety response that supports the recovery and stabilization needs of individuals, while meaningfully addressing the public order needs of small businesses.

$1.5 Million for City of Renton, Logan Place Market in Renton

The requested funds would help the City of Renton to rehabilitate and overhaul the Pavilion Event Center in the heart of downtown Renton into the new Logan Place Market. The Logan Place Market will be a vibrant marketplace for residents and an incubator space for small businesses with a particular focus on minority-owned, women-owned, and historically disadvantaged businesses in downtown Renton.

The Logan Place Market will be a catalyst for the economic growth and opportunities in Renton and the downtown core. Importantly, the project will provide opportunities for small, minority-owned, women-owned, and historically disadvantaged businesses to feel supported through space, resources, and retail opportunities. The unique and flexible layout will provide shopping, dining, and event space that elevates the existing space for the community. The marketplace will be a center of the community within the downtown core for those living in the area and those coming to visit. With the focus on support and resources for the businesses, the Logan Place Market will be a starting point for existing and new products and services for the community provided by small businesses.

$1 million for Cowlitz Indian Tribe, Cowlitz Tribal Health Clinic in Tukwila

The Cowlitz Tribe will use the requested funding to connect two adjacent buildings to support the Cowlitz Tribal Health Seattle Clinic’s (CTHS or Clinic) interdependent programming, expand its services, and create an integrated health care campus. This will help to further close the gap on the many unmet health and human services needs of American Indians and Alaska Natives (AI/AN) and others in living in the King County area.

The Clinic provides services for substance use disorders, mental health and co-occurring disorders, and sexual assault and domestic violence, medically-assisted treatment, and pharmacy services. CTHS patients are also provided transportation support, case management, peer counseling and on-site child care. This project will allow CTHS to provide expanded services and quality care to Washington residents with mental health and addiction issues, in one integrated health care campus.



To view requested funding levels and financial disclosure letters, click here.