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Residents GuideSouth Seattle

INSIDE: Faces & Places

A supplement to the South Seattle Beacon

South Seattle

2009 Residents Guide

� 7 South Seattle Residents Guide �009

Windermere Mount Baker Office

4919 South Genesee Street(206) 725-7255

Visit our web page at: www.windermere.com

http://www.windermerenorthwest.com/mtbaker

Celebrating30 Years of Service to Southeast Seattle

Windermere Real Estate/Northwest, Inc.

South Seattle Residents Guide �009 7 �

South Seattle RESIDENTS GUIDE 2009A publication of the South Seattle Beacon

636 South Alaska St • Seattle, WA 98108 (206) 461-1300www.pacificpublishingcompany.com

EditorVera M. Chan-Pool

PublisherMike Dillon

Art DepartmentAmy ChristianMaria Kosanke

Advertising CoordinatorLeilani McCoy

Classified ManagerBarb Blair

Advertising RepresentativesCarolyn Trujillo

Diana LullDonna O’NeillMatt Wilemski

Nancy Bronsteen

A DIvISIoN ofPAcIfIc PUblIShINg co., INc.

Member of the Washington Newspaper Publishers

Association

As a self-taught artist Cathy Fields worked in several media before settling into painting full time. She creates pieces in both large and small formats, many of which are included in public and private collections across the United States. A longtime resident of Southeast Seattle, she lives with her husband and two Dobermans in Hillman City.

Cov

er A

rtis

t Cathy Fields

Gregory Davis is the president of the Rainier Beach Community Empowerment Coalition

(RBCEC), an alliance of volunteer residents and community organizations that strives to enhance the quality of life in Rainier Beach.

RBCEC has identified six focus areas — education, transportation, economic development, the environment, public safety and you, family and young adults — that they monitor in Rainier Beach and report on in comprehensive briefing reports.

“We hold a town-hall meeting every January where we share with the community all of the activities in the six focus areas,” Davis said. “Once we have presented what happened over the previous year, the community redefines the priorities for the coming year.”

RBCEC examines these six areas not as completely separate aspects but acknowledges how each may impact the other.

“For example, the community wanted the businesses in the neighborhood to have a better relationship with schools,” he explained. “Because when schools let out, the students patronize the neighborhood businesses, but the businesses weren’t interacting well with the students. So we worked to help the businesses develop better relationships with schools by interacting with the Rainier Beach Merchants Association to make sure it was on their agenda to improve relationships with schools. And we worked with the principals of schools to make sure it was on their agenda, too.”

Once a year, RBCEC holds an event called the Back 2 School Bash, at which 600 school-age youths may receive a free backpack.

“We’ve got 30 to 40 tables set up for organizations in the neighborhood,” he said. “Young people have to go to each information booth before they get their backpacks.”

‘A collaborative spirit’

Davis grew up in Compton, Calif., during the ‘60s and ‘70s, and it instilled in him an interest in helping young people and the neighborhoods where they live.

“That was a time when the Black Panthers were kind of flourishing,” he said. “But in the early ‘70s they became public enemy No. 1. I saw a lot of new potential go down the drain after that. Now I’ve been committed to youth leadership.”

After graduating from Seattle University in 1982 with a degree in social science with a minor in economics, Davis worked for Urban Impact, formerly known as Emerald City Outreach Ministry, in Rainier Beach and eventually joined the Seattle Planning Commission.

“I started getting these higher-level policy perspectives and views on neighborhood planning and development,” he said.

He has been volunteering for RBCEC since 2004.

“It’s a collaborative spirit,” he said. “Our neighborhood is the anchor of southeast Seattle, and it has been victimized by underinvestment.

It does not have the resources it should, but we can gain leverage and enhance the appeal of the neighborhood.”

Rainier Beach-focusedHe is also part of the leadership council and

property development committee at his church in Rainier Beach. His faith is also an impetus for his community-oriented work, he said.

“Our purpose is to know our community and to know each other,” he said. “In fact, the church came out of Emerald City Outreach Ministry.”

His church is planning a 58-unit workforce-housing complex for property it owns in Rainier Beach.

Davis also helps other nonprofits with grant writing and acquiring nonprofit status.

Trying to establish a solidified community effort, as RBCEC, is not easy task, Davis said.

“We have a lot of people with different views and perspectives on class or ethnicity,” he said. “It is a challenge.”

Difficulty or no, Davis emphasizes that his and RBCEC’s efforts are focused.

“I guess I tell people that I am selfishly and shamelessly interested in what happens in Rainier Beach,” he said. “It’s a double-edged sword; it helps get the word out and helps people see that somebody is interested in this neighborhood, but if people want to do something in Beacon Hill or somewhere else, I have to tell them we’re interested in Rainier Beach.”

Family-orientedDavis works for Casey Family Programs, a

foundation that works to improve foster care.“I organize constituencies,” he said, “of foster

parents, youths who have aged out of care, grandparents raising grandchildren, birthparents who have lost their kids to child welfare to make sure that all of their voices are available to improve child welfare.”

Davis said he is very committed to his family as well. He has been married to his wife for 25 years. His daughter works at Urban Impact.

— Camden Swita

photo courtesy of Gregory Davis

Community-building at its finest

To our readers

Thank Youfor your support of your neighborhood newspaper

The South Seattle Beacon

Vera M. Chan-PoolEditor

[email protected]

Carolyn TrujilloRetail Advertising Representative

[email protected]


Our mission:

“We proclaim Jesus Christ and promote communities of joy,

hope, love, and peace.”

Rainier Valley Congregation4820 South Morgan Street · Seattle, WA 98118

Sunday Services Classes 10:00 am · Worship 11:00 am

Pastor: Lee Sargent (425) 641-7568

The Rev. LaMont Williams was sitting in a meeting on Nov. 7, 2001, listening as he was told he was being laid off from his customer-

service job at Qwest when his pager buzzed. This, he knew, meant his kidney was in. He immediately called Legacy Good Samaritan Hospital in Portland, Ore., and, yes, his kidney was in, and could he come in immediately for the transplant surgery?

Williams rushed home to his very pregnant wife, Felicia, who was due on Nov. 14, with the news that his wait on a national list for a transplant kidney had paid off after only three months.

Felicia drove him to the hospital where a surgeon would add a kidney extracted from a cadaver. There is no cure for IgA nephropathy — a kidney disorder that occurs when a protein that helps the body fight infections settles in the kidneys — and it can, over time, lead to kidney failure; the only option for ridding himself of the bad kidney was to supplement it with a good one.

Before he was taken into the operating room, however, Williams said to his wife, “In case I don’t make it through the surgery, I need to you to inform our unborn child that I tried everything I could do to live.”

This, Williams said, is true. He took all of the medicine the doctors prescribed, underwent dialysis, chemo testing — the whole regimen the doctors said would help his condition.

“Some people that are Christian believe that God will heal everything,” Williams, now 39, said. “But they don’t do anything for themselves.”

That night Felicia went to her parents’ house to spend the night. At 7 a.m. the next morning her water broke.

Two and a half miles away — by way of Interstate 405 —and across Portland’s Fremont Bridge from where Williams lay recovering from surgery, Felicia gave birth to their first daughter on Nov. 8, 2001, at Legacy Emanuel Hospital.

Knowing your purposeWilliams believes in God.In fact, ever since he was a child, Williams knew he was going to be a

pastor.“Sometimes people understand their purpose early,” said the father of

two daughters. “There’s just something you gravitate toward. My mother raised me in church; it was just in me.”

At 15, he became a Christian and then a junior deacon at his church in Inglewood, Calif. By age 20 he was an ordained minister in the Pentecostal Church.

At Biola University, a private Christian college in Southern California, and then El Camino College in Torrance, Calif., he considered becoming an attorney but ultimately followed his childhood intuition. He slowly migrated north, stopping to serve as a substitute pastor — for when pastors took vacation — in Portland and eventually taking an assignment to serve as the pastor at Restoration Life Church (RLC) in Central Seattle.

When he arrived in July 2007, RLC had four congregation members.Now, Williams said, there are about 70 attendants at what he calls “a

multicultural, multigenerational church.”He said he didn’t have any marketing plan when he arrived for getting

people into the church; the congregation has just grown by word of mouth.“What’s appealing about our ministry is that there’s sincerity here,” he

said. “The people can feel an intimate fellowship, an intimate worship here.”He emphasizes that although the church is affiliated with the Full Gospel

Pentecostal Association, they welcome anybody to their worship services.

The Church’s purposeJust months after he arrived, working quickly, he set up a monthly event

at the church, called His Hands Extended.On the fourth Saturday of every month RLC goes on a local mission, led

by Williams and his wife, an elder in the church, to downtown Seattle to feed homeless people.

“I’ve often explained to my church that because we exist, someone should have a meal,” he said. “Someone should have clothes and have shelter because we exist. I believe churches exist so that they can help the members of their community. That’s what Christ did, and I believe that’s what churches should do.”

From the pulpit Williams advocates empowerment. “Social, academic and empowerment through the life of Christ,” is a theological focus he attributes to a passage that moved him deeply as he sat and read from the Bible when he was a young boy.

— Camden Swita

A purposeful life

WorshipWorship

TO ADVERTISE IN THIS SECTION, CONTACT NANCY [email protected] | 206.281.9191

CLOSE TO HOMECLOSE TO HOME


Judith Edwards’ work as North Beacon Hill Council (NBHC) chair goes well beyond mitigating local issues and maintaining positive

relationships with the City Council. She’s helped turn her ordinary Southeast Seattle neighborhood into an active North Beacon Hill community.

“Ask anyone who lives here if they know Judith, and it’s usually, ‘Of course I do!’” said friend and neighbor Erin Musser. “She’d helped them or someone else they know, and the stories go on and on.”

Edwards has lived in North Beacon Hill for 30 years and has been a member of the NBHC board for more than six so she’s deeply invested in the community. Edwards’ neighbors agree she’s been a major contributor in building connections.

“She has helped so many people begin conversations with each other,” Musser said, “and it’s led to long-term friendships in the community.”

The best in the areaWithin the last few years, the North Beacon Hill neighborhood has

started to resemble a small town. Everyone knows one another. Plants are traded back and forth. Foods get exchanged.

And the block watch Edwards started years ago with her husband has turned into an annual Night Out Against Crime event in August that draws anywhere from 150 to 300 people.

“We’re known at the [Seattle Police Department’s South Precinct] as having the best food in the whole South End,” Edwards said. Because the neighborhood is very multi-racial, their night always includes foods from many ethnicities. “It’s just a great event.”

NBHC now plans a similar annual community picnic and piñata party, which attracts 400 to 500 people from across South Seattle.

“Judith’s husband passed away suddenly a few years ago, and we were all heartbroken.” Musser shared. “She has never once stopped being a great neighbor, friend and advocate for all of us on North Beacon Hill.”

Creating community activismEdwards makes it clear that she’s a connector. “I’m constantly

connecting people from this community and that community, this commitment and that commitment.”

By simply welcoming new neighbors, she said, you can create community no matter where you live.

To her, the greatest benefit of a community is the opportunity for members to come together and be proactive toward a common purpose. That’s why she believes local community councils are groups that best serve residents’ interests.

And as construction for a new lightrail station has become a major issue in her neighborhood, Edwards continues to be an active council member. “I believe in the community, and I believe that we need to be acknowledged,” she said.

“Judith gives tirelessly of herself,” Musser said. “She wants everyone to have as much information as possible so they can make the best decision about whatever issue she has taken on.”

Every August Edwards meets with the NBHC board of directors to see what they’re interested in acting toward. She explained, “The purpose of that meeting is really to find out what people like to do, what it is they want to do and then just let them go do it.”

She said she doesn’t attend their committee meetings, but requires

updates and minutes to report their progress. “I really believe that people are capable of doing the things they like to do best.”

She’s thrilled to see their ad hoc committee working with Sound Transit officials to make sure they recognize the neighborhood’s concerns about the new transit station, and to help establish plans that will hold Sound Transit accountable for negative impacts of the construction.

“This is very different from the city’s approach,” Edwards explained. “This is neighborhood activism.”

A common goalEdwards believes her career in leadership development and

management training has been a big part of her success as NBHC chair. After years of training corporate groups in team building, group development and conflict resolution, she’s learned the best ways to bring people together — especially from disparate views.

People working toward a common goal can often have two very different points of view, she said, but there is often a shared point of view to work toward, and once you find it, some of the opposition falls away.

As chair of NBHC, Edwards has contributed to crucial projects in all areas of neighborhood life. NBHC recently helped Vinh Nguyen write a proposal for the restoration of the green area along Interstate 90 called Lewis Park. The group served as his sponsor and the fiscal agent for the grant he received from the Department of Neighborhoods.

“I feel so good about that,” Edwards said, “and he is amazing.”“I truly believe in community,” she added, “and I think that you have to

build it...It doesn’t just happen.”— Stephanie Martin

Where everybody knows your name

photo courtesy of Eve Smyth


Hammer Auto Rebuild is a family-owned company that opened in 1949. The original shop was on Airport Way South, but in the late 50s the owner, Donald Hammer moved the business to its current location. Hammer passed away in April 2009, but his son-in-law Phil Summers now runs the business.

Summers attributes much of the business’ success to his father -in-law’s longstanding involvement in the local Rotary Club and developing relationships with the customers. This would often result in repeat business.

“Word of mouth has also been huge for us over the years,” Summers said.

The shop also has relied on business-to-business relationships, referring customers to other businessses if specific needs arise that Hammer Auto Rebuild can’t meet.

Hammer Auto Rebuild is a part of the CARSTAR network, so if a customer has his/her car worked on by Hammer but then moves across the country, the customer can find another CARSTAR shop to get work done.

-— Alison Ingham

CARSTAR Hammer Auto Rebuild1209 S. Bailey St. www.carstar.com

Bob’s Quality Meats4861 Rainier Ave. S. (206) 725-1221

James Ackley’s grandfather Joe started the Bob’s Quality Meats in 1909, and Ackley’s parents ran the business for a number of years, until they retired about 12 years ago and he purchased it from them.

One reason the store has been in business for 100 years is the quality of meat. According to Ackley, they never sell force-fed animals or feed-lot animals; the animals they sell were given a natural diet.

Another reason is the loyal customers. Ackley said that although the neighborhood has changed a lot over the years and has had some ups and downs, the store has always had a strong customer base. “We have always taken care of our customers really well,” Ackley said.

— Alison Ingham

Mutual Fish2335 Rainier Ave. S. (206) 322-4368www.mutualfish.com

Mutual Fish has been family-owned and -operated since Dick Yoshimura opened its doors in 1947. Now 95, Yo-shimura still works there six days a week, along with his son Harry and grandson Kevin Yoshimura, the current owner. Kevin’s aunt also works with them.

According to Kevin, one of the reasons they have stayed in business for so long is because they haven’t changed a lot over the years. “We do what we do,” Kevin said.

They have also managed to not get too big and can still focus their attention on individual customer’s needs.

Along with its fresh and live fish products, Mutual Fish also carries a complete line of Asian groceries.

— Alison Ingham

LeSSonS in LongeviTyThese longtime businesses are benchmarks of Southeast Seattle. More can be found throughout the South Seattle Residents Guide.

photo/Alison Ingham

photo/Alison Ingham

photo/Alison Ingham

South Seattle Residents Guide �009 7 7

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South Seattle Residents Guide 2009 7 9

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10 7 South Seattle Residents Guide 2009

Today, the thought of mortgage lending is hardly followed by a sense of community or goodwill — that is unless you are one of

the hundreds of homeowners HomeSight has helped own homes and develop equity.

HomeSight is a Columbia City-based nonprofit community-development corporation that builds homes and helps educate first-time homebuyers. It is the first nonprofit mortgage broker in Washington.

Tony To, the executive director of HomeSight, said of all of the homeowners that have gone through HomeSight’s lending program, only one has foreclosed.

“All of them go through our counseling program,” he said. “We work with every homeowner to create a budgeting plan and help them understand what it means to own a house or take out a mortgage — both financially and legally. They take seven hours of classes.”

Building equityTo moved to Seattle in 1990 after working as a general contractor

and developer in New York City. While in Seattle, he attended the University of Washington and received a degree in building construction.

“I had actually done some community organizing when I was a student,” he said. “I’m an immigrant, first-generation, and I’ve always felt there was a need to help people who come to this country looking for opportunities to find them.”

To believes owning a home not only allows a person to build financial equity, but social and political equity as well.

“In Central and Southeast Seattle, where we focus most of our work, everybody has to pay rent, but if they can buy a house then the money they use to pay rent over time becomes equity,” he explained. “And they get advantages that people in a better financial place have: They have more of a voice in civic affairs because they are homeowners and are seen as property owners.”

To also worked with the Columbia City Business Association to turn Columbia City — where, To estimates, 70 percent of its storefronts sat vacant about 12 years ago — into a better place for business owners and buyers.

“Many of us used to volunteer our time to try and get businesses into Columbia City,” he said. “We worked with business owners and property owners to make a strong business association.”

An inclusive business communityTo has been a member of the Rainier Valley Chamber of Commerce

for seven years and was the president last year. “I am very active working with local businesses to help them do well,”

he said. “A lot of immigrant businesses — that’s something I am very committed to.”

He has worked over the last few years to make civic organizations in the Rainier Valley more inclusive and representative of the diverse population in South and Southeast Seattle.

“People who have time on their hands are active, and after a while that becomes very one-dimensional,” he said. “That’s changing now. We work very hard to get as many groups together and participating as possible. In Southeast Seattle we have a lot of diversity; it’s a gateway for immigrants. They settle in Rainier Valley before they move to other places, and immigrant business owners have invested their entire life savings in the area.”

But he believes that if leaders and organizations truly want to help South Seattle, they need to work beyond meetings.

“Rather than have them come to our meetings we need to go out there and see what’s going on,” he said. “We need to give people help where they need help.”

To has been on the Seattle Planning Commission for six years and chaired it last year. He helped run a public-safety program in Columbia

City for many years and more recently helped run a similar program in the Rainier Valley and Othello areas.

“We’ve been around a lot. I volunteer to do a lot of things in Rainier Valley, and HomeSight does a lot down there.”

To and his wife are celebrating their 31st anniversary this September. They have a son who also lives in Southeast Seattle.

— Camden Swita

photo courtesy of HomeSight

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Oh Boy! Oberto1715 Rainier Ave. S. (206) 322-7524

Oh Boy! Oberto has been producing quality meats since 1927, when Constantino Oberto started smoking sausages and fine meats out of his home. His early passing didn’t stop his son, Art Oberto, from continuing the business; in fact, by 1954 the first plant was built on Rainier Avenue South. The building is still exactly the same now as it was back when it opened, although production has moved to a larger facility in Kent.

Art and his wife, Dorothy, lived in an apartment connected to the first plant, and the whole production was a family affair, with four to five workers. According to Dorothy’s sister, Coralie Vennetti, the family would get together every Sunday in the “magic spice room” and blend all the spices to season the meats for that week.

Although Oberto now employs more than 700 people, not a lot has changed with the meats over the years; most of them are still handmade, just at a larger volume.

According to Vennetti, who has worked for Oberto for 42 years, they did make some changes to the menu items after supermarkets moved into the neighborhood. After that, their small batches of fresh meat selections had competition, so they had to market other items.

“We moved to products that still worked, like smoked sausages, cocktail peps and beef jerky,” Vennetti said.

— Alison Ingham

Borracchini’s Bakery 2307 Rainier Ave. S. (206) 325-1550www.nowcake.com

Borracchini’s Bakery has been family-owned and -operated since 1923. In 1939 it moved to the current location, which is only eight blocks south of the original location.

Remo Borracchini’s parents, Mario and Maria, started the business, focusing on the bakery, cake decorating, Italian deli and Italian market. “We are very well known for our cakes,” Borracchini said.

The bakery has been in the Valley for so long that it started to do repeat cakes for some. “We did the original wedding cakes, and now we’re doing 50- and 60-year anniversary cakes.” he said. Borracchini credits the bakery’s longevity is due to its exceptional service: “We’ll know you by name. You won’t get that in a large corporation.”

He said he plans to have his business in the Valley for another 100 years; he already has his grandchildren working in the bakery over the summer to get them prepared.

— Alison Ingham

photo/Alison Ingham

photo/Alison Ingham


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As the executive director of the Rainier Valley Community Development Fund (CDF), Martina Guilfoil has taken great strides to see the businesses

around the area flourish, and she isn’t afraid to take risks where other lending groups may have their doubts.

Guilfoil grew up in Seattle and graduated from Evergreen State College. She went on to do graduate work in urban planning at the University of California Los Angeles. During her 20 years away from Washington, Guilfoil also worked in Florida for a few years and never really saw herself coming back to this state, she said.

But it was the job with the CDF that brought her back to Seattle, because she was interested in trying something new, which in this case involved business and commercial lending. She said she wanted to be able to work with community mem-bers and find a way to give people the tools they needed to start a business and maintain diversity and sustainability.

Redefining successStarted in 2002, the CDF has dispersed about $15 million since 2005 to local

businesses to keep them up and running despite the construction going on around the light-rail system along Martin Luther King Jr. Way South.

Since coming to the CDF, Guilfoil has made an effort to broaden the discussion about what the organization could be doing and is hoping to redefine success. With her help, the CDF is becoming a catalyst for different plans around the Rainier Val-ley.

One of Guilfoil’s upcoming projects will be to offer good pricing for empty com-mercial buildings. She said the CDF won’t go looking for potential buyers but will set a rate and term and see who comes to them. “If you can get businesses to come in, it’s a good start,” she said. She also hopes to see the cost of commercial renting become more affordable in today’s economy.

Making the pieces fitGuilfoil has stressed to the CDF board the importance of being more risk-toler-

ant. She also makes them aware of things such as job creation or the affect certain businesses will have on the community because of the services they provide.

“We want to refinance existing debt and give businesses capital to work with,” she explained.

Another vision she has for the CDF is to stand apart from other lending groups, which don’t receive state-grant funds as the CDF does. “How do you make an im-pact and make a difference?” she asks herself. “Everyone wants something a little different, so I have to talk the language of all the different groups. I put in the time to make sure the story and the pieces fit together.”

Guilfoil’s passion for her work is helping to make powerful advances in the Rainier Valley neighborhood. With the more than 20 years’ experience in community development and neighborhood revitalization she isn’t afraid to do something a little differently if it means helping the soul of the community.

“I have always worked to improve the community and empower people to make their communities better,” she said.

— Alison Ingham

photo/Alison Ingham

Taking risks helps the greater community

Stewart Lumber & Hardware Co.1761 Rainier Ave. S. (206) 324-5000www.thestewartlumberco.com

The Stewart Lumber & Hardware Co. has been a family-owned and-operated business since 1926. It is now in its fourth generation, with Matt and Ryan Young working in the shop.

Of the seven current employees, most have been with Stewart Lumber for 20 to 25 years. “People come in and they know us by name, and we know them by name,” said Joe Sroka, who has worked with the company for more than 20 years.

That personal side of their customer service is something they know has helped keep them in business for so long. “You don’t find that too much anymore,” he said.

Many customers are amazed by the amount of hardware the store offers, because it isn’t obvious from the outside how big the store is inside, Sroka added.

—Alison Inghamphoto/Alison Ingham


• College Transfer (206) 768-6600

• Professional/Technical (206) 764-5394

• Adult Basic Education/ESL/GED (206) 764-5363

• High School Programs (206) 764-5805

• Continuing Education (206) 764-5339

• Online/Distance Learning (206) 764-7930

• Four-Year Degrees (206) 764-5387

South Seattle Community College, 6000 16th Ave SW, Seattle, WA 98106 • (206) 764-5300 • www.southseattle.eduNewHolly Learning Center, 7058 32nd Ave S, 2nd Floor of NewHolly Learners Bldg., Seattle, WA 98118 • (206) 768-6642

…start here, go anywhere!

Scenes fromAtlantic Street Boat Launch

photos/Sherman Eng


Full

Finding passion in life through food

Though the spices may vary between cultures, Theo Martin has discovered the main ingredient — food — is a tasteful and

unique avenue to connect with youths.Martin, owner of Island Soul restaurant in the Columbia City nook

on Rainier Avenue South, partnered with the New School located just behind his restaurant to teach sixth-graders the ins and outs of Island sauces, breads and dishes. With a room styled with vibrant golden walls and paintings that take one back to a place where the sand crunches between people’s toes, the restaurant seems a fitting conduit for Martin’s ideas of mentorship.

“We want to work with younger groups because we found out the sooner you start holding their hands, the better off they are,” Martin said. “If you’re not hands-on then you’re letting go.”

Martin’s first mentoring venture began when he opened Olympic Staffing Service, which placed more than 2,500 people who hadn’t been exposed to the job market into full-time job positions each year. After seven years, Martin closed the business and opened Island Soul, which has opened more opportunities to reach out to youths, Martin said.

“Everyone loves food, and [the kids] get a chance to cook food and walk out the door with it. The experience is not something they can ever get rid of. It’s all about planting the seed,” he said.

Opening the doorsThe mentorship program with the New School finished at the

end of this school year, and the students are moving to Shoreline Elementary School for next year. But the move won’t deter Martin, who plans to continue mentorships and bringing youths into the restaurant to job shadow. This summer, Martin selected three 13-year-olds who will help once a week shadowing the hostess and waiters.

“You just have to do it. You’ve got be a leader. Kids need leadership,” Martin said of his philosophy on reaching out to youths.

Food, according to Martin, is not only something that brings people together, but can also be a tool for educating youths. “The doors open, and it’s so rewarding to watch a sixth-grader be happy about what you do and what you teach them.”

Island Soul chef Bobby Laing, who partnered with Martin in running the mentorship, also noted the satisfaction of teaching children something they can keep with them and the importance of starting connections with youths earlier than later.

“I was really blessed to teach them something they don’t know. It’s

photo/Jessica Van Gilder

always a good idea to teach kids; they all want to learn,” Laing said. “It’s important for them to start learning at an early age because it fosters passion.”

And passion is not in short supply at this restaurant.

Reaching further outThough the logistics of running a similar mentorship program

next year are a little blurry because of the New School’s move, Martin eventually hopes to write a cookbook with children that combines different cultures and highlights the crossover of dishes and spices between them. He plans to continue outreach to the community’s youths, using his restaurant and food to spark children’s passions and teach them lessons they can carry beyond their youth.

— Jessica Van Gilder

Scenes from

Georgetownphoto/Sherwin Eng


Full

By Leah Finn

From colorful bus-stop murals to intricate light-pole art, the Southeast Seattle neighborhoods have become noticeably

more artful in recent years, thanks to a number of community organizations that recognized the need and the potential for public art projects.

Taking ownershipFor Columbia City resident and artist Mary Coss, the

importance of these displays goes beyond simply beautifying abandoned buildings or dull bus stops. “It’s about ownership,” said Coss, who led many of the public art projects brightening the streets and buildings of Southeast Seattle. “It affects how people relate to their environment when they have a piece of ownership in it.”

Most recently, Coss worked with children from the Rainier Vista Boys & Girls Club to create a glass-tile mosaic for a new building at Martin Luther King Jr. Way South and South Oregon Street. The mosaic, titled “The Origin of the Red String,” is one piece of a collaborative art project to be installed at the building site later this summer.

The “red string” imagery comes from the ancient Greek myth about a labyrinth, a legendary maze so confusing that one young man, venturing into it, must drag a red string along his path so that he can find his way out. The site will feature work by other local artists as well, like carved benches made by metalworker Sabah Al-Dhaher.

The project was presented as a public workshop by the SEEDArts branch of the nonprofit community corporation SouthEast Effective Development, which was founded in 1975 to help stimulate economic development in Southeast Seattle neighborhoods. SEEDArts came together soon after, as community members made clear their enthusiasm for an arts program.

“That was one of the first things that people felt was important to quality of life,” said SEEDArts director Jerri Plumridge.

Today, SEEDArts oversees three main programs: the Public Art Program, which presents workshops like Coss’s mosaic; performance art programming at the Rainier Valley Cultural Center; and the Columbia City Gallery, an artist-run cooperative that sells and displays visual art.

Raising the barThe Columbia City Gallery was founded in 1999, when a group

of artists came together to work on the SEEDArts-organized public mural “Rainbow Valley,” on the Rainier Avenue side of the Darigold building. “They were saying, ‘There’s so many fabulous artists down here in Southeast Seattle. Wouldn’t it be great if we actually had a gallery?’” said Kathy Fowells, manager of the gallery.

Though it is a SEEDArts project, the Columbia City Gallery is operated entirely by the 28 artists who are members of the cooperative — a group that gets more and more competitive to join each year, Fowells said.

“We may have one or two openings [in the cooperative] every six months or so,” she said. “At our last jury, we had 12 people competing for one spot. It’s great for us because it means we’re able to raise the bar in quality.”

The gallery celebrates its 10th anniversary this year with an exhibit in its Guest Gallery, a section of the space that showcases work by artists outside the cooperative, featuring the work of 10 nationally renowned artists who live within a mile of the gallery.

The exhibit, which is called 5280 for the number of feet in a mile, includes art by Mandy Greer, Ruth Marie Tomlinson, Norman Courtney and Barbara Earl Thomas. Its pieces — ranging from blown-glass sculpture by Courtney to Greer’s life-size “Slug Princess,” draped in yards of intricately crocheted yarn — showcase the diversity of creative people living in the Southeast Seattle area.

“These are really renowned artists living amongst us,” Fowells said. “I think a lot of artists really appreciate the diversity of this neighborhood in particular.”

A dynamic arts enclaveSince Columbia City Gallery’s opening in 1999, two other

galleries have moved into the area: Viscosity Glass, which sells blown glass art, and Gather.

“This district has come a long way in 10 years,” Fowells said. “It’s much more dynamic than it used to be.”

Downtown Columbia City also boasts the Columbia City Theater, a historic vaudeville venue that hosted some of Jimi Hendrix’s early performances in the 1960s. Today, Southeast Seattleites can enjoy standup comedy, West African dance and Flamenco performances in the classic space.

North of Columbia City is another exciting development in the artistic community of Southeast Seattle: the Northwest African American Museum (NAAM), which opened its doors in the basement of the former Colman School building in February 2008. The only African American museum in the Pacific Northwest, NAAM exhibits the historical origins of its cultural community in Seattle and the wider region, as well as a gallery space showing local African American art.

Creativity in the public eyeSoutheast Seattle abounds with artistic ventures

Mandy Greer’s “Slug Princess and Cabbages from ‘The Silvering Path’” is featured in the Columbia City Gallery’s current exhibit celebrating its 10th anniversary.

photo/Leah Finn


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The current exhibit, Stories that Cover Us, is a collection of quilts made by the Pacific Northwest African American Quilters, a group of local women who meet once a month to share with one another the tradition of quilting.

“They all live in the same area, but they bring influence from other places,” said NAAM volunteer coordinator Lani Lehman. “It’s a diverse, malleable practice.”

The exhibit is supplemented by live quilting demonstrations led by the artists, which are open to the public. NAAM offers several other interactive programs, including art workshops, storytelling of African folk tales and a Geneology 101 class to guide patrons through family history in the museum’s multimedia lab.

Lehman agreed that diversity plays a large role in the growth of Southeast Seattle’s artistic community. “The diversity within the community and the openness to people outside of the community [are] what keeps it so vibrant,” Lehman said. “The only way a community survives is by being open to ideas.”

A creative lotThe hands-on creativity encouraged by NAAM’s artistic

demonstrations seems to be a common theme in the Southeast Seattle community, where neighborhood residents have collaborated on more than 30 works of public art in the last three decades. Their enthusiasm has extended to surrounding neighborhoods, as well.

One recent public art project can be found farther north in the Central Area in an empty, fenced-off lot at the corner of 23rd Avenue and East Union Street. At a corner infamous for

crime, where a local restaurant owner was murdered last year, community members erected an informal exhibition of blown-up photographs of neighborhood residents waiting for the bus. The images, alongside interviews with locals about how they view the notorious intersection, can be found on the project’s website at www.23rdandunion.org.

“They’re capturing a changing area, and the people who live in it,” Lehman said of the project at 23rd and Union. “That change is just so inevitable. It gives artists either something to work against or something to work with, and that tension is what creates good art.”

A SEEDArts Project, the Columbia City Gallery is run by a group of cooperative members who compete for the positions.

photo/Leah Finn

This tile mosaic outside the Lilac Lounge in Columbia City is a public art project done in 2003 by neighborhood artist Mary Coss, Cleveland High School students and Lilac Lodge residents.

photo/Leah Finn


ne ighborhoodresources

Community organizations

government

Here’s where you can go:• Blue Dog Pond at martin Luther King Jr. Way south and south massachusetts street.

• Genesee Park at south genesee and 46th avenue south

D o gPa r K s

s C h o o L s

HIGH SCHOOLSCLEVELAND 5511 15th Ave. S. • (206) 252-7800

FRANKLIN3013 S. Mount Baker Blvd. • (206) 252-6150

RAINIER BEACH8815 Seward Park Ave. S. • (206) 252-6350

SOUTH LAKE 8601 Rainier Ave. S. • (206) 252-6600

MIDDLE SCHOOLSAKI KUROSE ACADEMY3928 S. Graham St. • (206) 252-7700

MERCER1600 Columbian Way S. • (206) 252-8000

WASHINGTON2101 S. Jackson St. • (206) 252-2600

K-8ORCA5215 46th Ave. S. • (206) 252-6900

SOUTH SHORE8825 Rainier Ave. S. • (206) 252-7600

K-5BEACON HILL INTERNATIONAL2025 14th Ave. S. • (206) 252-2700

BRIGHTON 6725 45th Ave. S. • (206) 252-6770

CONCORD723 S. Concord St. • (206) 252-8100

DEARBORN PARK2820 S. Orcas St. • (206) 252-6930

DUNLAP4525 S. Cloverdale St. • (206) 252-7000

EMERSON9709 60th Ave. S. • (206) 252-7100

GRAHAM HILL5149 S. Graham St. • (206) 252-7140

HAWTHORNE4100 39th Ave. S. • (206) 252-7210

KIMBALL3200 23rd Ave. S. • (206) 252-7280

WING LUKE3701 S. Kenyon St. • (206) 252-7630

MAPLE4925 Corson Ave. S. • (206) 252-8310

JOHN MUIR3301 S. Horton St. • (206) 252-7400

THURGOOD MARSHALL2401 S. Irving St. • (206) 252-2800

VAN ASSELT8311 Beacon Ave. S. • (206) 252-7500

Seattle Public Schoolsthe seattle school District’s enrollment services

Center is at the John stanford Center, 2445 third ave. s.; the phone number is (206) 252-0760. the Bilingual Family Center is in room 105 at aki Kurose middle school, 3928 s. graham st.; the phone number is (206) 252-7750. Both facilities are open 8:30 a.m. to 4 p.m. mondays through Fridays, except holidays. Both close at noon on the third Wednesday of the month.

Parents or guardians wanting to enroll their student will need a photo iD of the parent or guardian registering the student; two address verification documents (utility bills, pay stubs, tax statements, etc.); a birth certificate or other similar document (such as a passport) for students entering kindergarten or first grade; a certificate of immunization status; and a signed and completed registration form, which is available through the enrollment service Center or on-line at www.seattleschools.org.

BEACON ALLIANCE OF NEIGHBORSCommunity Council, NW Beacon Hillwww.cityofseattle.net/BAN

BEACON HILL PEDESTRIAN TASK FORCEJefferson Community Center3801 Beacon Ave. S.E-mail: [email protected]

COALITION OF LAO MUTUAL ASSISTANCE ASSOCIATION4714 Rainier Ave S., Suite 108(206) 267-5060

COLUMBIA CITY BUSINESS ASSOCIATIONFirst Tuesdaywww.rainiervalley.org

COLUMBIA CITY REVITALIZATION COMMITTEEwww.rainiervalley.org/Ccrc1.htm

EL CENTRO DE LA RAZA2524 16th Ave S. • (206) 329-9442Forum for neighborhood & world events. www.elcentrodelaraza.com

FILIPINO COMMUNITY CENTER5740 Martin Luther King Jr. Way S.(206) 722-9372Filipino Community Council: Second Sunday, 1:30 p.m.www.filcomseattle.org

GEORGETOWN COMMUNITY COUNCILP.O. Box 80021 • 6932 Carleton Ave. SThird Monday, 7 p.m.E-mail: [email protected]

HILLMAN CITY BUSINESS ASSOCIATIONFirst Wednesday, 9:30 a.m.Rainier Ave. Church, 5900 Rainier Ave. S.www.hillmancitybiz.org

JEFFERSON PARK ALLIANCE4103 Beacon Ave. S. • (206) 323-1792Public land issues of Jefferson Park and surrounding community.

MARTIN LUTHER KING BUSINESS ASSOCIATIONwww.mlkba.org

MOUNT BAKER COMMUNITY CLUB2811 Mount Rainier Drive S. • (206) 722-7209www.mountbaker.org

NAACP – SEATTLE(206) 324-6600www.scn.org/naacp/naacp_page_1.htm

NEW FREEWAY HALL5018 Rainier Ave. S. • (206) 722-2453Many South End groups use New Freeway Hall to create social change.

NORTH BEACON HILL COUNCILJefferson Park Community Center3801 Beacon Ave. S.north-beacon-hill.blogspot.com

ONE AMERICA (formerly Hate Free Zone)1227 S. Weller St., Suite 200 • (206) 723-2203Supports and advocate for immigrant communities of color.Helpline: (866) 439-6631www.weareoneamerica.org

RAINIER CHAMBER OF COMMERCE5290 Rainier Ave. S. • (206) 725-2010www.rainierchamber.comE-mail: [email protected]

RAINIER VALLEY HISTORICAL SOCIETY3710 S Ferdinand St. • (206) 722-2838www.rainiervalleyhistory.orgE-mail: [email protected]

RADICAL WOMEN5018 Rainier Ave. S. • (206) 722-6057Committed to inequities of women’s lives.www.RadicalWomen.org

REFUGEE FEDERATION SERVICE CENTER7101 Martin Luther King Jr. Way S. (206) 725-9181Employment, social services to diverse refugee, immigrant community.

REFUGEE WOMEN’S ALLIANCE4008 Martin Luther King Jr. Way S. (206) 721-0243www.rewa.org

RAINIER VALLEY COMMUNITY DEVELOPMENT FUND6951 Martin Luther King Jr. Way S., Suite 225 (206) 722-5280www.rvcdf.org

SEATTLE AFRICAN AMERICAN COMFORT PROGRAM1508 East Prospect St. • (206) 239-8189www.saacp.org

SEATTLE INDIAN CENTER611 12th Ave. S., No. 300 • (206) 329-8700E-mail: [email protected]

SEATTLE INDIAN HEALTH BOARD611 12th Ave. S • (206) 324-9360www.sihb.orgE-mail: [email protected]

SOMALI COMMUNITY SERVICES OF SEATTLE3320 Rainier Ave. S. • (206) 760-1181www.somalicss.org

SOUTHEAST SEATTLE SENIOR CENTER4655 S. Holly St. • (206) 722-0317

SOUTHEAST YOUTH & FAMILY SERVICES3722 S. Hudson St. • (206) 721-5542

SOUTH PARK AREA REDEVELOPMENTSouth Park Neighborhood Association8201 10th Ave. S., No. 2www.allaboutsouthpark.com

SOUTH PARK NEIGHBORHOOD ASSOCIATIONSecond Tuesday, 7 p.m. 8201 10th Ave. S., No. 7 E-mail: [email protected]

URBAN LEAGUE OF METROPOLITAN SEATTLE105 14th Ave • (206) 461-3792www.urbanleague.org

VIETNAMESE FRIENSHIPS ASSOCIATION4714 Rainier Ave. S., Suite 108 • (206) 760-1573

WELLSPRING FAMILY SERVICES (formerly Family Services)1900 Rainier Ave. S. • 826-3050www.wellspringfs.orgHelping families with housing support, counseling and child care since 1892.

SEATTLE CITY COUNCILthe nine-member seattle City Council is elected at large to four-year terms. Write them at City hall, 600 Fourth ave., second Floor, P.o. Box 34025, seattle, Wa 98124-4025.

Position 1 — Jean Godden684-8807 • [email protected]: Finance & Budget and Budget

Position 2 — Richard Conlin684-8805 • [email protected]: environment, emergency management & utilities

Position 3 — Bruce Harrell684-8804 • [email protected]: energy & technology

Position 4 — Jan Drago684-8801 • [email protected]: transportation

Position 5 — Tom Rasmussen684-8808 • [email protected]: Parks & seattle Center

Position 6 — Nick Licata684-8803 • [email protected]: Culture, Civil rights, health and Personnel, Labor Policy

Position 7 — Tim Burgess684-8806 • [email protected]: Public safety, human services & education

Position 8 — Richard McIver684-8800 • [email protected]: housing & economic Development

Position 9 — Sally J. Clark684-8802 • [email protected]: Planning, Land use & neighborhoods

MAYORseattle’s mayor is elected to a four-year term. Write mayor greg nickels at 600 Fourth ave., seventh Floor, P.o. Box 94749, seattle, Wa 98124-4749. Phone 684-4000. a link to the mayor’s e-mail is on-line at www.cityofseattle.net/mayor.

METROPOLITAN KING COUNTY COUNCILthe nine-member King County Council is elected by district to four-year terms. the southeast seattle area is represnted by District 2. Write your council member at 516 third ave., room 1200, seattle, Wa 98104.

Councilmember Larry Gossett, District 2296-1002 • tty/tDD: 296-1024(800) [email protected]

KING COUNTY EXECUTIVEthe county executive is elected to a four-year term. Write the executive at King County’s executive’s of-fice, 701 Fifth ave., suite 3210, seattle, Wa 98104.

King County Executive Kurt Tripplett296-4040 • [email protected]

STATE Gov. Christine Gregoire (D)the governor is elected to a four-year term. Write her at P.o. Box 40002, olympia, Wa 98504-0002. a link to the governor’s e-mail is on-line at www.gov-ernor.wa.gov. (360) 902-4111

members of the state house of representatives are elected to two-year terms; the state senate is elected to four-year terms. southeast seattle is in-cluded in the 11th and 37th districts. Legislators can be reached toll-free at (800) 562-6000 or (800) 635-9993 (tty).

11TH DISTRICTRep. Zack Hudgins (D) 438a Legislative BuildingP.o. Box 40600olympia, Wa 98504-0600(360) [email protected]

Rep. Bob Hasegawa (D)425 John L. o’Brien BuildingP.o. Box 40600olympia, Wa 98504-0600(360) 786-7862219 First ave. s., suite 205seattle, Wa 98104(206) [email protected]

Sen. Margarita Prentice (D)303 John a. Cherberg Bldg.P.o. Box 40411olympia, Wa 98504-0411(360) [email protected]

37TH DISTRICTRep. Sharon Tomiko Santos (D)434a Legislative BuildingP.o. Box 40600olympia, Wa 98504-0600(360) 786-7944219 First ave. s., suite 205seattle, Wa 98104 (206) 587-5549 [email protected]

Rep. Eric Pettigrew (D)122h Legislative BuildingP.o. Box 40600olympia, Wa 98504-0600(360) 786-7838219 First ave. s., suite 205seattle, Wa 98104(206) [email protected]

Sen. Adam Kline (D)223 John a. Cherberg BuildingP.o. Box 40437olympia, Wa 98504-0437(360) [email protected]


Vince’s Italian Restaurant & Pizzeria8824 Renton Ave. S. (206) 722-2116

Vince and Ada Mottola first started Vince’s Italian Restaurant and Pizzeria in 1957, with the desire to create a place with authentic Italian food. Since they had come from Naples, Italy, just a few years earlier, they knew exactly which recipes to use.

Now their son, Vince, manages the restaurants,

and he wants to maintain the tradition that his parents created. “I am so proud of their authentic Italian recipes,” he said. He described it as “Italian comfort food.”

For years, generations of South Seattle families have enjoyed Vince’s meals, and Vince Jr. considers it lucky to have such loyal guests.

Vince’s staff is equally as loyal and dedicated, he said.— Alison Ingham

Georgetown Pharmacy6111 13th Ave. S.(206) 763-0288

photo/Alison Ingham

The Georgetown Pharmacy has been in business for more than 60 years. Its current owner, Jack Cordova, worked for the previous owner before purchasing the company 47 years ago.

Cordova, who has worked as a pharmacist for more than 50 years, said his main concern is filling the needs of the people of the area. “We appreciate all the clientele we’ve had,” he said. “If people need services or to utilize our help, we’re here for that purpose.”

This pharmacy is critical to the local residents because it is the only pharmacy in the 98108 ZIP code. It serves residents from Georgetown, Beacon Hill and the rest of South Seattle.

— Alison Ingham

photo/Alison Ingham

s C h o o L s

arts & museums

ne ighborhoodresources

Arts In Motion3405 S. Alaska St. • (206) 723-3131www.aimschool.org

Columbia City BeatWalkFirst Friday (May-Sept.), 7-10 p.m.Historic Columbia City Business Districtwww.columbiacitybeatwalk.org

Columbia City Gallery4864 Rainier Ave. S. • (206) 760-9843Volunteer opportunities, plus artists can arrange to show work. www.columbiacitygallery.com

Georgetown Power Plant Museum6605 13th Ave. S. (at S. Greely St.)(206) 763-2542This facility has been preserved, maintained and operated as a museum and teaching facility. Free admission. Sundays, 1-3 p.m., May 1 - Oct. 1. Annual picnic on second Sunday in May, 10 a.m.-5 p.m., with steam and gas railroad, barbecue, music.

Museum of Communications7000 E. Marginal Way S. • (206) 767-3012Open Tuesdays, 8:30 a.m.-2 p.m. and by appointment. Free. Founded by retired Ma Bell employees; traces telephones from the start to state-of-the-art.

Friends of Georgetown History5501 Airport Way S., No. 8 • (206) 326-1395www.georgetownhistory.com

Museum of Flight9404 E. Marginal Way S. • (206) 764-5720www.museumofflight.org

Rainier Valley Cultural Center/Rainier Valley Youth Theatre3515 S. Alaska St.Youth Theatre: (206) 725-7517Southeast Seattle’s first performing arts center. Annual presenting season and as a rental facility for community. E-mail: [email protected]

South Park Arts Council www.southparkarts.org

SEEDArts Program3515 S. Alaska St. • (206) 760-4287Partners with schools and the community to involve youths and their families in creating public art, jazz and world music performances. www.seedseattle.org/arts

Seward Park Clay Center5900 Lake Washington Blvd. S. • (206) 722-6342Nonprofit ceramic-arts organization. Offers classes and workshops by regional and nationally recognized artists and studio space for artists. Also has outreach programs and several yearly sales and shows.www.sewardparkart.org

SouthEast Seattle Arts Council (SESAC)c/o SEED3515 S. Alaska St. • (206) 723-7333, 760-4287Community liaison for artists and funders such as the Seattle Office of Arts and Cultural Affairs.www.seedseattle.org/arts

Youth in Focus2100 Building2100 24th Ave. S., Suite 310 • (206) 723-1479Youth development program offers variety of photography classes, service learning opportunities and entrepreneurial projects for youths age 13-19.www.youthinfocus.org

south enD ParKs

Atlantic St. Park • S. Atlantic and 21st Ave. S.Just under an acre in size, a good place to relax for a moment or two.

Beacon Hill Playground • 1902 13th Ave. S.The wading pool is the key feature of this 3-acre park. There are also basketball hoops, a children’s play area, picnic tables, accessible restrooms, a soccer and softball field and accessible tennis courts.

Beacon Place • S. Dearborn St. and 11th Ave. S.A little ditty of a park.

Beer Sheva Park • 8650 55th Ave. S.This park has a nice picnic area available at no cost. The picnic area has a grill and two tables, and it accommodates 30. But no bathrooms. Call (206) 684-4081 to reserve.

Benefit Playground • 38th Ave. S. and S. Benefit St.The park features basketball hoops, benches, landscaping, pathways and a children’s play area. The picnic shelter can be rented for $50. It holds 35 people and has a grill and four tables; call (206) 684-4081 to reserve.

Benvenuto Viewpoint • 1401 23rd Ave. S.A viewpoint on 1.66 acres.

Bradner Gardens Park • 29th Ave. S. and S. Grand St.These 1.6 acres are packed: winding paths, p-patch gardens, ornamental St. trees, basketball court.

Brighton Playfield • 6000 39th Ave. S.Twelve acres of ball fields, tennis courts and a children’s play area.

Cesar Chavez Park • Seventh Ave. S. and S. Cloverdale St.Play the sculpture “Musical Steles” and hear the music of a xylophone.

Cheasty Boulevard/Cheasty Greenspace • Cheasty Boulevard S. and S. Della St.A little more than 60 acres of green space.

Chinook Beach Park • Rainier Ave. S. and Ithaca Place S.Just about 2-1/2 acres.

Colman Park • 1800 Lake Washington Blvd. S.A good place for a wedding, the park’s concrete balcony hosts up to 200 people; call (206) 684-4081 to reserve. The beach along Lake Washington is perfect for football, Frisbee, volleyball and just playing.

Colman Playground • 1740 23rd Ave. S.The bike trail, half-court basketball court and picnic table make this 2.8-acre park a great place to exercise and then relax.

Columbia Park • 4721 Rainier Ave. S.The wide, open spaces of this 2.1-acre park show off its famous maple trees.

Dearborn Park • 2919 S Brandon St.The just under half-mile of trails make the 7 acres of this site just right for an easy stroll.

Dr. Blanche Lavizzo Park • 2100 S. Jackson St.The oaks and poplars provide the seclusion for this park from the residences to its east and west. The picnic shelter features a fireplace, and the bricked open area, with benches and cozy amphitheater, encourage wonderful (and free) summertime concerts and plays.

Fletcher Place • 57th Ave. S. and S. Fletcher St. Just .06 acres.

Genesee Park and Playfield • 4316 S. Genesee St.These 57 open, grassy acres host a playfield for people and an off-leash area for dogs (complete with doggie drinking fountain). It’s also the site for Seafair hydroplane festivities.

Georgetown Playfield • 750 S. Homer St.The wading pool is a favorite treat.

Hitt’s Hill Park • 5234 37th Ave. S.A 3.2-acre wooded hilltop at the southwest corner of Columbia City.

Jefferson Park • 4165 16th Ave. S.Fifty acres of paths, lawn bowling, cricket and tennis — and the breathtaking views of downtown, Puget Sound and the Olympic Mountains.

Jimi Hendrix Park • 2400 S. Massachusetts St.Dedicated to the hometown rock star of the ‘60s.

John C. Little Sr. Park •6961 37th Ave. S.Picnic shelters, a plaza, an expanded children’s play area and a community garden make this a special place at NewHolly.

Judkins Park and Playfield • 2150 S. Norman St.The 6.2 acres boasts lots of green fields. There are two ballfields, play equipment, basketball hoops and barbecue sites.

Kubota Gardens • 9817 55th Ave. S.This site showcases hills, valleys, streams, waterfalls, ponds and bridges in the Japanese-style garden setting.

Lake People Park (Xacua’bs) • S. Bradford St. and 31st Ave. S.Pronounced “hah-chu-ABSH,” this half-acre green oasis provides views north to Downtown Seattle and east to the Cascades. It also preserves a green oasis just blocks from Rainier Ave. S.

Lakeridge Park • Rainier Ave. S. and 68th Ave. S.The hiking trail is a key feature of this 35-acre park.

Martha Washington Park • 6612 57th Ave. S.A good hiking path can be found on the nearly 10-acre site. And on a clear day, you can gaze upon Mount Rainier while you lounge ‘neath a tree.

Martin Luther King Jr. Memorial Park • 2200 Martin Luther King Jr. Way S.A 30-foot sculpture — inspired by the civi-rights leader’s “I’ve Been to the Mountaintop” speech — in a reflecting pool is the centerpiece of this 4.3-acre park tucked between S. Walker and Bayview Sts.

Seward Park Environmental & Audubon Center5902 Lake Washington Blvd. S. • (206) 652-2444Home to eagles and an old-growth forest, these 300 acres make room for an art studio, hiking trails and an amphitheater.

12th Ave. S. Viewpoint • 12th Ave. S. and S. Forest St. Stunning views of downtown, Elliott Bay and the Olympic Mountains treat the visitor to these 1-plus acres.


Greg Anderson has been working for the Rainier Valley Community Development Fund (CDF), in charge of business development and

lending, since December 2006. Having grown up in the Rainier Valley, he said his previous schooling and work have prepared him for this role at the Fund.

Anderson said he has the perfect combination to work for the CDF. “My experience [in Rainier Valley] is extremely valuable,” he said.

Graduating with a degree in business administration from Washington State University, Anderson went to work for the Bank of America for six years as a small-business banker, and his time and experience there broadened his networking avenues even more. He said he uses those relationships with local lenders and calls on them when specific financing opportunities arise.

Being able to help lend money to those who can use it the most was what attracted Anderson to the CDF, since part of his job is finding and deciding who will receive these funds. “I know access to capital is everything [to businesses],” he said. “I want to be a part of delivering that capital to the beneficiaries.”

The right mixThroughout the Rainier Valley are seven business districts, which can

make things difficult because it is such a large area, Anderson said. One of the goals that Anderson sees for the CDF is to strengthen these individual communities in the area. “We want to encourage people to live, work and shop in the Valley,” he said.

One way Anderson discovers what is needed for each neighborhood by talking with local business groups and residents. Their needs can help determine what companies will be brought in.

Anderson also recognizes the diversity of businesses. “Some are standard, and some are unique to the area,” he said.

In regard to retail, finding the right mix is extremely important. Anderson takes into consideration things such as parking, which is vital, along with possible volume and density.

He also looks at the potential for synergies between businesses. For instance, he may consider whether a coffee shop would work well next to a grocery store. It is such factors that the general public doesn’t always consider, but can make a huge impact on the success or failure of some businesses. It is the CDF’s responsibility to consider all these aspects of a potential loan opportunity and how all parts will fit together, Anderson said.

Taking it to heartAnderson said that everyone who works for the CDF has the community at

heart, living and breathing the economic future of the Valley. “What is factored into every decision we make is, will this benefit the community in a positive way? If yes, then we make sure it gets the attention it needs.”

In addition to his responsibilities with the CDF, Anderson is also an active member of the Rainier Chamber of Commerce, Columbia City Business Association and the Rainier Beach Merchants Association.

— Alison Ingham

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South Seattle RESIDENTS GUIDE 2009A publication of the South Seattle Beacon

636 South Alaska St • Seattle, WA 98108 (206) 461-1300www.pacificpublishingcompany.com

EditorVera M. Chan-Pool

PublisherMike Dillon

Art DepartmentAmy ChristianMaria Kosanke

Advertising CoordinatorLeilani McCoy

Classified ManagerBarb Blair

Advertising RepresentativesCarolyn Trujillo

Diana LullDonna O’NeillMatt Wilemski

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As a self-taught artist Cathy Fields worked in several media before settling into painting full time. She creates pieces in both large and small formats, many of which are included in public and private collections across the United States. A longtime resident of Southeast Seattle, she lives with her husband and two Dobermans in Hillman City.

Cov

er A

rtis

t Cathy Fields

Gregory Davis is the president of the Rainier Beach Community Empowerment Coalition

(RBCEC), an alliance of volunteer residents and community organizations that strives to enhance the quality of life in Rainier Beach.

RBCEC has identified six focus areas — education, transportation, economic development, the environment, public safety and you, family and young adults — that they monitor in Rainier Beach and report on in comprehensive briefing reports.

“We hold a town-hall meeting every January where we share with the community all of the activities in the six focus areas,” Davis said. “Once we have presented what happened over the previous year, the community redefines the priorities for the coming year.”

RBCEC examines these six areas not as completely separate aspects but acknowledges how each may impact the other.

“For example, the community wanted the businesses in the neighborhood to have a better relationship with schools,” he explained. “Because when schools let out, the students patronize the neighborhood businesses, but the businesses weren’t interacting well with the students. So we worked to help the businesses develop better relationships with schools by interacting with the Rainier Beach Merchants Association to make sure it was on their agenda to improve relationships with schools. And we worked with the principals of schools to make sure it was on their agenda, too.”

Once a year, RBCEC holds an event called the Back 2 School Bash, at which 600 school-age youths may receive a free backpack.

“We’ve got 30 to 40 tables set up for organizations in the neighborhood,” he said. “Young people have to go to each information booth before they get their backpacks.”

‘A collaborative spirit’

Davis grew up in Compton, Calif., during the ‘60s and ‘70s, and it instilled in him an interest in helping young people and the neighborhoods where they live.

“That was a time when the Black Panthers were kind of flourishing,” he said. “But in the early ‘70s they became public enemy No. 1. I saw a lot of new potential go down the drain after that. Now I’ve been committed to youth leadership.”

After graduating from Seattle University in 1982 with a degree in social science with a minor in economics, Davis worked for Urban Impact, formerly known as Emerald City Outreach Ministry, in Rainier Beach and eventually joined the Seattle Planning Commission.

“I started getting these higher-level policy perspectives and views on neighborhood planning and development,” he said.

He has been volunteering for RBCEC since 2004.

“It’s a collaborative spirit,” he said. “Our neighborhood is the anchor of southeast Seattle, and it has been victimized by underinvestment.

It does not have the resources it should, but we can gain leverage and enhance the appeal of the neighborhood.”

Rainier Beach-focusedHe is also part of the leadership council and

property development committee at his church in Rainier Beach. His faith is also an impetus for his community-oriented work, he said.

“Our purpose is to know our community and to know each other,” he said. “In fact, the church came out of Emerald City Outreach Ministry.”

His church is planning a 58-unit workforce-housing complex for property it owns in Rainier Beach.

Davis also helps other nonprofits with grant writing and acquiring nonprofit status.

Trying to establish a solidified community effort, as RBCEC, is not easy task, Davis said.

“We have a lot of people with different views and perspectives on class or ethnicity,” he said. “It is a challenge.”

Difficulty or no, Davis emphasizes that his and RBCEC’s efforts are focused.

“I guess I tell people that I am selfishly and shamelessly interested in what happens in Rainier Beach,” he said. “It’s a double-edged sword; it helps get the word out and helps people see that somebody is interested in this neighborhood, but if people want to do something in Beacon Hill or somewhere else, I have to tell them we’re interested in Rainier Beach.”

Family-orientedDavis works for Casey Family Programs, a

foundation that works to improve foster care.“I organize constituencies,” he said, “of foster

parents, youths who have aged out of care, grandparents raising grandchildren, birthparents who have lost their kids to child welfare to make sure that all of their voices are available to improve child welfare.”

Davis said he is very committed to his family as well. He has been married to his wife for 25 years. His daughter works at Urban Impact.

— Camden Swita

photo courtesy of Gregory Davis

Community-building at its finest

To our readers

Thank Youfor your support of your neighborhood newspaper

The South Seattle Beacon

Vera M. Chan-PoolEditor

[email protected]

Carolyn TrujilloRetail Advertising Representative

[email protected]


Our mission:

“We proclaim Jesus Christ and promote communities of joy,

hope, love, and peace.”

Rainier Valley Congregation4820 South Morgan Street · Seattle, WA 98118

Sunday Services Classes 10:00 am · Worship 11:00 am

Pastor: Lee Sargent (425) 641-7568

The Rev. LaMont Williams was sitting in a meeting on Nov. 7, 2001, listening as he was told he was being laid off from his customer-

service job at Qwest when his pager buzzed. This, he knew, meant his kidney was in. He immediately called Legacy Good Samaritan Hospital in Portland, Ore., and, yes, his kidney was in, and could he come in immediately for the transplant surgery?

Williams rushed home to his very pregnant wife, Felicia, who was due on Nov. 14, with the news that his wait on a national list for a transplant kidney had paid off after only three months.

Felicia drove him to the hospital where a surgeon would add a kidney extracted from a cadaver. There is no cure for IgA nephropathy — a kidney disorder that occurs when a protein that helps the body fight infections settles in the kidneys — and it can, over time, lead to kidney failure; the only option for ridding himself of the bad kidney was to supplement it with a good one.

Before he was taken into the operating room, however, Williams said to his wife, “In case I don’t make it through the surgery, I need to you to inform our unborn child that I tried everything I could do to live.”

This, Williams said, is true. He took all of the medicine the doctors prescribed, underwent dialysis, chemo testing — the whole regimen the doctors said would help his condition.

“Some people that are Christian believe that God will heal everything,” Williams, now 39, said. “But they don’t do anything for themselves.”

That night Felicia went to her parents’ house to spend the night. At 7 a.m. the next morning her water broke.

Two and a half miles away — by way of Interstate 405 —and across Portland’s Fremont Bridge from where Williams lay recovering from surgery, Felicia gave birth to their first daughter on Nov. 8, 2001, at Legacy Emanuel Hospital.

Knowing your purposeWilliams believes in God.In fact, ever since he was a child, Williams knew he was going to be a

pastor.“Sometimes people understand their purpose early,” said the father of

two daughters. “There’s just something you gravitate toward. My mother raised me in church; it was just in me.”

At 15, he became a Christian and then a junior deacon at his church in Inglewood, Calif. By age 20 he was an ordained minister in the Pentecostal Church.

At Biola University, a private Christian college in Southern California, and then El Camino College in Torrance, Calif., he considered becoming an attorney but ultimately followed his childhood intuition. He slowly migrated north, stopping to serve as a substitute pastor — for when pastors took vacation — in Portland and eventually taking an assignment to serve as the pastor at Restoration Life Church (RLC) in Central Seattle.

When he arrived in July 2007, RLC had four congregation members.Now, Williams said, there are about 70 attendants at what he calls “a

multicultural, multigenerational church.”He said he didn’t have any marketing plan when he arrived for getting

people into the church; the congregation has just grown by word of mouth.“What’s appealing about our ministry is that there’s sincerity here,” he

said. “The people can feel an intimate fellowship, an intimate worship here.”He emphasizes that although the church is affiliated with the Full Gospel

Pentecostal Association, they welcome anybody to their worship services.

The Church’s purposeJust months after he arrived, working quickly, he set up a monthly event

at the church, called His Hands Extended.On the fourth Saturday of every month RLC goes on a local mission, led

by Williams and his wife, an elder in the church, to downtown Seattle to feed homeless people.

“I’ve often explained to my church that because we exist, someone should have a meal,” he said. “Someone should have clothes and have shelter because we exist. I believe churches exist so that they can help the members of their community. That’s what Christ did, and I believe that’s what churches should do.”

From the pulpit Williams advocates empowerment. “Social, academic and empowerment through the life of Christ,” is a theological focus he attributes to a passage that moved him deeply as he sat and read from the Bible when he was a young boy.

— Camden Swita

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Judith Edwards’ work as North Beacon Hill Council (NBHC) chair goes well beyond mitigating local issues and maintaining positive

relationships with the City Council. She’s helped turn her ordinary Southeast Seattle neighborhood into an active North Beacon Hill community.

“Ask anyone who lives here if they know Judith, and it’s usually, ‘Of course I do!’” said friend and neighbor Erin Musser. “She’d helped them or someone else they know, and the stories go on and on.”

Edwards has lived in North Beacon Hill for 30 years and has been a member of the NBHC board for more than six so she’s deeply invested in the community. Edwards’ neighbors agree she’s been a major contributor in building connections.

“She has helped so many people begin conversations with each other,” Musser said, “and it’s led to long-term friendships in the community.”

The best in the areaWithin the last few years, the North Beacon Hill neighborhood has

started to resemble a small town. Everyone knows one another. Plants are traded back and forth. Foods get exchanged.

And the block watch Edwards started years ago with her husband has turned into an annual Night Out Against Crime event in August that draws anywhere from 150 to 300 people.

“We’re known at the [Seattle Police Department’s South Precinct] as having the best food in the whole South End,” Edwards said. Because the neighborhood is very multi-racial, their night always includes foods from many ethnicities. “It’s just a great event.”

NBHC now plans a similar annual community picnic and piñata party, which attracts 400 to 500 people from across South Seattle.

“Judith’s husband passed away suddenly a few years ago, and we were all heartbroken.” Musser shared. “She has never once stopped being a great neighbor, friend and advocate for all of us on North Beacon Hill.”

Creating community activismEdwards makes it clear that she’s a connector. “I’m constantly

connecting people from this community and that community, this commitment and that commitment.”

By simply welcoming new neighbors, she said, you can create community no matter where you live.

To her, the greatest benefit of a community is the opportunity for members to come together and be proactive toward a common purpose. That’s why she believes local community councils are groups that best serve residents’ interests.

And as construction for a new lightrail station has become a major issue in her neighborhood, Edwards continues to be an active council member. “I believe in the community, and I believe that we need to be acknowledged,” she said.

“Judith gives tirelessly of herself,” Musser said. “She wants everyone to have as much information as possible so they can make the best decision about whatever issue she has taken on.”

Every August Edwards meets with the NBHC board of directors to see what they’re interested in acting toward. She explained, “The purpose of that meeting is really to find out what people like to do, what it is they want to do and then just let them go do it.”

She said she doesn’t attend their committee meetings, but requires

updates and minutes to report their progress. “I really believe that people are capable of doing the things they like to do best.”

She’s thrilled to see their ad hoc committee working with Sound Transit officials to make sure they recognize the neighborhood’s concerns about the new transit station, and to help establish plans that will hold Sound Transit accountable for negative impacts of the construction.

“This is very different from the city’s approach,” Edwards explained. “This is neighborhood activism.”

A common goalEdwards believes her career in leadership development and

management training has been a big part of her success as NBHC chair. After years of training corporate groups in team building, group development and conflict resolution, she’s learned the best ways to bring people together — especially from disparate views.

People working toward a common goal can often have two very different points of view, she said, but there is often a shared point of view to work toward, and once you find it, some of the opposition falls away.

As chair of NBHC, Edwards has contributed to crucial projects in all areas of neighborhood life. NBHC recently helped Vinh Nguyen write a proposal for the restoration of the green area along Interstate 90 called Lewis Park. The group served as his sponsor and the fiscal agent for the grant he received from the Department of Neighborhoods.

“I feel so good about that,” Edwards said, “and he is amazing.”“I truly believe in community,” she added, “and I think that you have to

build it...It doesn’t just happen.”— Stephanie Martin

Where everybody knows your name

photo courtesy of Eve Smyth


Hammer Auto Rebuild is a family-owned company that opened in 1949. The original shop was on Airport Way South, but in the late 50s the owner, Donald Hammer moved the business to its current location. Hammer passed away in April 2009, but his son-in-law Phil Summers now runs the business.

Summers attributes much of the business’ success to his father -in-law’s longstanding involvement in the local Rotary Club and developing relationships with the customers. This would often result in repeat business.

“Word of mouth has also been huge for us over the years,” Summers said.

The shop also has relied on business-to-business relationships, referring customers to other businessses if specific needs arise that Hammer Auto Rebuild can’t meet.

Hammer Auto Rebuild is a part of the CARSTAR network, so if a customer has his/her car worked on by Hammer but then moves across the country, the customer can find another CARSTAR shop to get work done.

-— Alison Ingham

CARSTAR Hammer Auto Rebuild1209 S. Bailey St. www.carstar.com

Bob’s Quality Meats4861 Rainier Ave. S. (206) 725-1221

James Ackley’s grandfather Joe started the Bob’s Quality Meats in 1909, and Ackley’s parents ran the business for a number of years, until they retired about 12 years ago and he purchased it from them.

One reason the store has been in business for 100 years is the quality of meat. According to Ackley, they never sell force-fed animals or feed-lot animals; the animals they sell were given a natural diet.

Another reason is the loyal customers. Ackley said that although the neighborhood has changed a lot over the years and has had some ups and downs, the store has always had a strong customer base. “We have always taken care of our customers really well,” Ackley said.

— Alison Ingham

Mutual Fish2335 Rainier Ave. S. (206) 322-4368www.mutualfish.com

Mutual Fish has been family-owned and -operated since Dick Yoshimura opened its doors in 1947. Now 95, Yo-shimura still works there six days a week, along with his son Harry and grandson Kevin Yoshimura, the current owner. Kevin’s aunt also works with them.

According to Kevin, one of the reasons they have stayed in business for so long is because they haven’t changed a lot over the years. “We do what we do,” Kevin said.

They have also managed to not get too big and can still focus their attention on individual customer’s needs.

Along with its fresh and live fish products, Mutual Fish also carries a complete line of Asian groceries.

— Alison Ingham

LeSSonS in LongeviTyThese longtime businesses are benchmarks of Southeast Seattle. More can be found throughout the South Seattle Residents Guide.

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