EW April 2021 Newsletter

Happy Earth Day! Since EW was founded on the very first Earth Day in 1970, this day has held a special place in our hearts. (Wondering about our header? For a time, EW called its home Earth Station 7.) Read on about one of our favorite recent sustainability-minded EW projects, the Edmonds Waterfront Center and Edmonds Waterfront Redevelopment Project. We share some ways we like to celebrate nature, including visiting geocaches where we've dropped limited-edition EW stickers for you to find. And, we introduce a fantastic natural play area you can help create at Voices of Tomorrow Child Care Center, our 2021 GiveBIG partner!

The Edmonds Senior Center's 50-plus-year-old building was falling apart. Meanwhile, the community's older adult population was skyrocketing. And, the City of Edmonds had identified the key goal of a new community center. This confluence of needs gave rise to the beautiful new Edmonds Waterfront Center and Edmonds Waterfront Redevelopment Project, designed by EW's Architecture and Landscape Architecture teams respectively. The Center's and restored beachfront's awesome sustainability features make them a great local Earth Month destination.

• The Edmonds Waterfront Center's flexible design will allow for programming for older adults during weekdays, and for the whole community on evenings and weekends, making it a truly multi-functional and multi-generational gathering space.

• EW Director of Architecture and Waterfront Center Project Lead Sally Knodell notes that the building generates on-site renewable energy thanks to a 100 kWh photovoltaic array on the roof, while also optimizing energy performance. And, there is now zero petroleum-based resource usage on site! These elements contributed to the Waterfront Center attaining LEED Gold certification.

• EW's Landscape Team, led by Director of Landscape Architecture Nic Morin, designed the Edmonds Waterfront Redevelopment adjacent to the Waterfront Center. Previously, a parking lot on a creosote-soaked bulkhead dominated the site. The bulkhead and fill were removed, and replaced with two new beach staircases, an accessible ramp for hand-boat launching, and clean sand and boulders. The beach restoration integrates several glacial erratic boulders linking the site to its geological history. It also features soft shoreline stabilization with anchored logs, supporting animal habitat and beach health.

• The redevelopment activates a 280-foot stretch of the City’s waterfront, restoring its habitat and adding artistic and recreational elements for all users. It also integrates key environmental remediation and green stormwater infrastructure that will protect this sensitive site’s use and beauty for decades to come. Last week, the Washington Chapter of the American Society of Landscape Architects honored the waterfront redevelopment with an Award of Merit.

• Check out the Edmonds virtual grand opening happening today, featuring a video tour with Rick Steves.

Another incentive to visit the Edmonds Waterfront project in person: its on-site food options! The Potlatch Bistro is open for lunch every weekday, and Shore Pine Coffee & Gelato is open daily 9 am to 3 pm.

Looking for a fun, safe outdoor activity in your neighborhood? Try Geocaching! Download the free Geocaching app, turn on your phone’s location function, and follow clues in the app to track down a “cache” – a weatherproof container, usually with a small logbook and trinkets to exchange. Our staff have hidden limited-edition EW stickers at several geocaches around the Seattle region (each geocache's ID number follows its name). Hunt some down, and send us photos of any you discover!

• In Hillman City: on 47th south of Brandon, at the "P-patch poker" geocache (GC95XAT)

• In the Arboretum: near the E. Newton St. entrance, at the "Billy Goats back again" geocache (GC8CECV)

• In West Seattle: near Erskine Way, at the "Erskine Guardrail Peek" geocache (GC1MXEH)

• In Ravenna: north of Ravenna Blvd. on 17th Ave. NE, at the "Ravenna Troll Booth" geocache (GC6WAMJ)

• On Bainbridge Island: at the south end gem of Lytle Beach (GC7P1N4); and, about a mile north of the ferry at the "Bus Stop" geocache by Ferncliff Road (GC8Y25F).

Other ways our staff like to celebrate nature:

Voices of Tomorrow Child Care Center is a Somali-English dual-language, culturally responsive early learning program serving East African and other South End families. For our 2021 GiveBIG campaign, EW is partnering with VOT to raise money to transform an asphalt lot at the center into an enriching and fun natural play area! Give now through May 5 to support a great project for a great community. Plus, all supporters will be invited to join us for a volunteer build day this summer!

EW March 2021 Newsletter

Happy Spring! Learn more about Rod's House, a nonprofit addressing youth homelessness in the Yakima Valley, from Young Adult Emergency Home Program Manager Chon Márquez. And please spread the word about our Emerging Professional opening!

A new EW partner, Rod’s House takes a multi-faceted approach to ending youth homelessness in the Yakima Valley.  Rod’s House’s Chon Márquez spoke with us about his work, what brought him to Rod’s House, and how the community can help.  

Tell us about Rod’s House. 
Last year’s count of youth experiencing homelessness in our area was 90, and we expect that number to be significantly higher this year.  To my knowledge, Rod’s House is the only nonprofit in our region serving these youth exclusively.  Our programs include a resource center with drop-in services and referrals, an emergency home for young adults, a young adult extreme winter weather shelter, behavioral health services, and street outreach services. 

My program, an emergency home for young adults in Sunnyside, opened during the pandemic.  Prior to that, there was no year-round housing program focused on young people’s unique needs. 

What brought you to this work? 
I joined Rod’s House six months ago.  Previously, I worked in a similar role in the Seattle area for eight years.  I’m originally from Sunnyside.  When I saw this position, I read up on Rod’s House.  I loved its mission, its commitment to equity, how they treat young adults, and what they have to offer them. My program, the Young Adult Emergency Home, houses young adults for up to 90 days while working with them to overcome education, employment, and health barriers, and offers case management and behavioral health services. 

How do the causes of youth homelessness compare in Seattle and the Yakima Valley? 
In both areas, there is a huge lack of affordable housing.  This problem is growing in the Yakima Valley, because many people who are now working remotely have moved out here for the great quality of life.  When I moved here six months ago, I had to spend two months living at a hotel because of the severe lack of housing. 

In both Seattle and the Yakima Valley, some, though not all, youth experiencing homelessness are going through substance abuse.  But the two biggest causes of youth homelessness that I’ve observed in both Seattle and the Yakima Valley are lack of affordable housing, and lack of job training.

We collected a lot of information from the people we’ve been serving at our resource center, and determined that our community’s greatest need is a permanent program where young adults can stay for 90-120 days, year-round, while receiving support to overcome barriers to long-term stable housing. This data is driving our plan to build a new facility to serve both minors and young adults in Yakima. 

Where can we learn more? How can we help?
To learn more about Rod’s House’s work, follow us on Facebook or Instagram, or subscribe to our newsletter. Other great resources are A Way Home Washington (statewide movement to end youth homelessness), and the Homeless Network of Yakima County.

We always welcome money and in-kind donations. Check our social media for our weekly Wednesday wish lists, or visit our website to donate!

EW is hiring! Please spread the word to mission-driven people who may be interested in our Emerging Professional opening. We're seeking someone with 3 to 5 years of experience to collaborate on designing housing and community facilities. Full job description and application instructions are on our website.

EW February 2021 Newsletter

We've made it nearly to March, and spring is just around the corner! This month, we share inspiring words from Zamzam Mohamed, CEO and co-founder of Voices of Tomorrow. And, we'd love your help spreading the word about our job opening for an Emerging Professional with 3 to 5 years of experience.

Through a community-based, child-centered approach, Voices of Tomorrow supports high-quality, culturally responsive early learning for King County immigrant and refugee communities. The Seattle Preschool Program first connected VOT and Environmental Works in 2018, when VOT was working to develop preschool classrooms in Seattle’s Rainier Beach neighborhood. VOT and EW recently completed a two-classroom remodel, and are now collaborating on preschool play area improvements (see p. 13 of EW’s 2019 annual report for more information).

Voices of Tomorrow Co-Founder and CEO Zamzam Mohamed recently joined EW staff to share insights on VOT’s work, its evolution during the pandemic, and the importance of community collaboration and support.

On what inspired her to found VOT:
Years ago, when I was the director of an ECEAP program [Washington’s Early Childhood Education and Assistance Program, funding early learning for children ages 3 and 4], I saw an acute need for a community-based organization that would support children with language and cultural wraparound services from the primary years. I also saw the need for growing early learning leaders from within our community: we saw the glow on kids’ faces when they encountered teachers from their community in leadership roles.

At the same time, I saw a critical need to support family child care providers. Washington was rolling out Early Achievers, a quality improvement rating system to be applied to family child care providers as well as early learning centers. Many family providers faced challenges in learning about these standards, due to language barriers and isolation.

These community needs gave rise to VOT. We relied on a model of listening to the community, setting responsive goals, taking action, reporting back to the community on our progress, and asking for input on how we could improve. The community told us they wanted to grow leaders from within. A lot of families reported that they were losing their connection with their kids because of language differences: parents who speak minimal English, and kids who speak minimal Somali. So we started by developing a dual-language preschool program for 80 children in partnership with the City of Seattle.

On the organization’s growth:
To serve the many families moving out of Seattle because of gentrification, we started offering [state-subsidized] programming in the neighborhoods that families are moving to. Now we partner with the Highline and Tukwila school districts to operate preschools in their facilities. And we work with family child care providers, some of whom are monolingual in Somali, to support their operating as preschool programs that children can continue attending when they turn 4. We built a strengths-based program to support their compliance with the City’s complex requirements, removing the barrier of language access. We also offer home visiting with United Way ParentChild+. Our training program for caregivers offers a free 6-college-credit course on prenatal care, mental self-care, and child development through Highline Community College, because we know that supporting children starts with their caregivers. And we offer training for families on how to advocate for their children at school, and through legislative advocacy.

On evolution during the pandemic:
We’ve received support from a foundation to help us become a trauma-healing organization. We primarily engage with families that have been through trauma: language trauma, cultural shock, transition, war. We’ve hired mental health specialists to look at our policies, procedures, and staffing, as we ask, “How welcoming are we? Are we really supporting people from a strengths-based perspective? Are we elevating their health?” Everything we do now, be it for staff, teachers, children, or families, incorporates self-care elements. For example, our virtual engagement for children now begins with taking a moment to breathe.

On how we can support VOT’s work and the child care sector:
Community leaders are stretched really thin now. It can really help to do what EW has done for us – ask what you can help them with, and offer specific ways to support them – especially if you have relevant expertise to offer, whether it’s in getting a building up to code or distributing pandemic supplies. There’s a Somali proverb that one finger does not wash a hand; it takes all of us to get things done.

EW is hiring an Emerging Professional with 3 to 5 years of experience to work with us to design sustainable, beautiful, culturally responsive housing and community facilities! Please spread the word to mission-driven architects and designers in your networks. Click here for full job description and applications instructions.

EW January 2021 Newsletter

Happy, happy 2021 to you and yours! We start off the new year with hopeful words from EW's new Executive Director, Jess Zimbabwe; and reflections on child care from Denise Louie Education Center Executive Director Susan Yang. And, don't miss highlights from our recent social media!

Though it’s only January, 2021 has already been a wild ride. On the national stage, we saw how dangerous disinformation and racist rhetoric led to the siege of the Capitol. Then, just two weeks later, many of us collectively exhaled while watching a peaceful inauguration ceremony. Closer to home, the 2021 legislative session is underway in Olympia (albeit entirely virtually), with ambitious proposals around COVID recovery, police reform, housing, and climate change.

At EW, staff and board have been hunkering down for a virtual holiday party, working from home, and making occasional masked-up site visits to projects around the region. We are all eagerly following news about vaccine rollouts, hoping for a day when we can see each other, friends, partners, clients, and neighbors in person again.

We all seek news and stories about creative solutions and bold commitments. And we’re also reminded that there is a long road to a just recovery ahead. We face an uncertain timeline for economic recovery, a looming eviction crisis layered on top of an already disastrous housing affordability calamity, and the heartbreaking devastation of this deadly disease, with even worse outcomes for Black, Indigenous, and Latinx people. It takes almost a daily practice to sit with the enormity of the challenges that lie ahead, and then re-commit yourself to doing what you can.

We at Environmental Works are honored to do this work alongside an indefatigable group of partners, friends, and colleagues, like Susan Yang of Denise Louie Education Center, about whom you will learn more below.

I leave you with a stanza from the incredible poem “The Hill We Climb,” which Youth Poet Laureate Amanda Gorman recited on Wednesday at the inauguration:

So here’s to January, and the turning of new leaves, and love as a legacy.

Yours,

Susan Yang joined Denise Louie Education Center as its Executive Director in 2015, after more than 15 years in various policy, program, and research roles in early learning and human services. At Denise Louie, Susan and staff work daily to honor founder and activist Uncle Bob Santos’s legacy by providing high-quality, culturally competent prenatal, birth-to-five early learning services to diverse families throughout Seattle. Environmental Works has been fortunate to partner with Denise Louie in providing architectural services on several child care center build-outs over the years.

What drew you to leading a direct service organization?
I’m an accidental ED – the opportunity sort of fell in my lap. Denise Louie Education Center’s mission is something I cannot say no to. I’ve also really enjoyed the opportunity to be closer to families. In policy, we focus on statistics and data. At Denise Louie, I talk with kids and their families daily and witness their progress. It’s very rewarding!

The pandemic has forced hundreds of child care programs in Washington to close temporarily or permanently. What impact has the pandemic had on Denise Louie? On the child care sector?
Denise Louie is at half-enrollment during the pandemic (now serving approximately 500 families), so our revenue has been cut in half. At half-enrollment and half-revenue, it’s almost impossible to survive. We’ve worked hard to fundraise and apply for loans, so we can keep our doors open and continue to serve families.

Denise Louie focuses on young children’s well-being, social-emotional development, and foundational skills to prepare for school, all especially critical during the pandemic. All children have a similar capacity to learn. We work to minimize the opportunity gap, so kids are at an adequate starting place for school and beyond.

Our single biggest expense is labor – people are at the heart of what we do. If we make child care as low cost as possible for families, that is a sacrifice borne by our staff and we can’t retain high-quality teachers.

The pandemic has highlighted the importance of child care providers, as well as public school teachers. People need to think about public investment in quality child care programs, the same way we pay for public [K-12] education.

Who is Denise Louie serving now?
We closed in March of 2020. We reopened in April, when we brought back infants and toddlers. In May and June, we brought back preschoolers. In August, we did a presentation and learned that many families were scared to come back. Many Chinese families were facing discrimination because some people were blaming them for the virus, and that made them scared to return. We are now primarily serving children with special needs, children experiencing homelessness, and children of essential workers. We are also providing home-based services. Kudos to the team and families for making it happen!

What resources do you recommend for learning more about the child care sector, advocacy and policy?
The Children’s Alliance’s Early Learning Action Alliance presents a unified advocacy agenda for children ages 0-5 in Washington. Child Care Aware of Washington also advocates for early learning. The Washington State Association of Head Start & ECEAP advocates for preschool at the state and federal levels.

What’s giving you hope in 2021?
Our society is starting to truly understand how much inequity there is in early learning and other institutions. We’re within a small window in which we can restructure our systems so they better serve kids and families who are furthest from opportunity, and make a long-term impact on their ability to move forward. We must also be willing to establish benchmarks, what we need to achieve and by when, so that we can evaluate if we are achieving our goals and making a difference or not. We need to act.

I am hopeful that the pandemic has caused more people to see systemic inequities, and the importance of child care educators in social-emotional development – building greater respect for this important work. This increased awareness has the potential to bring positive change to child care, and to create a more equitable society for our youngest learners. There’s a lot to be done, and we can all play a part.

ICYMI:

• EW staff participate in Tiny House Build with Sound Foundation NW/LIHI.

• Learn about Washington's first Natural Conservation Area, Woodard Bay, designed by the Barker Landscape Architects team (now with EW)!

EW December 2020 Newsletter

All of us at Environmental Works wish you and yours a safe, healthy, and peaceful holiday season. As Roger Tucker winds down his tenure as our Executive Director, he shares a few words. And, check out the new commemorative bike rack we've installed at Fire Station 7 in Roger's honor!

Traditionally, our last newsletter of the year is an upbeat reflection on the year's accomplishments. However, since March, it’s been an ongoing challenge to continue our work without direct connections to partners, friends, coworkers, and team members. While we were fortunate to be able to persevere in designing affordable housing and community facilities, we recognize that 2020 has been an especially difficult year for many. Much more needs to be done to address the inequities and hardships that this year made apparent. It’s almost impossible to fully identify, acknowledge, and address these imbalances in the short term. So we change our focus to next year, when we hope and plan to:

• Continue to work with other nonprofits to address inequities in availability of affordable housing, child care, and community facilities, all the more glaring due to the disruptions caused by the pandemic.

• Explore and utilize new methodologies that allow for more outreach and community engagement during the design process, even while pandemic restrictions are in place.

Leading us in these efforts will be our new Executive Director, Jess Zimbabwe, officially beginning her tenure on January 1, 2021. We are excited for the opportunities that Jess's leadership will bring to EW's mission-driven work. Welcome, Jess! I hope you all will have a chance to meet her during the year.

Lastly, we hope that the vaccines will allow for larger in-person gatherings so we can celebrate EW’s 51st year in the latter part of 2021. We will continue to monitor the State’s guidance for in-person events, and send invitations when appropriate.

Thank you all for your tenacity, flexibility, and perseverance through an unprecedented year. May you find moments of peace among the disruptions of the year, take heart, and stay safe and healthy!

In collaboration,
Roger Tucker
Outgoing Executive Director, Environmental Works

Roger with the new commemorative bike rack honoring his 23 years of service to EW, recently installed at Fire Station 7. Thanks to all who made this beautiful bike rack possible!