As we prepare to celebrate National Community Development Week next week, Seattle Human Services is thrilled to shine a spotlight on The Refugee Women's Alliance (ReWA), a non-profit organization dedicated to empowering and supporting refugee and immigrant women and their families in the Seattle community. As we prepare to celebrate National Community Development Week next week, Seattle Human Services is thrilled to shine a spotlight on The Refugee Women’s Alliance (ReWA), a non-profit organization dedicated to empowering and supporting refugee and immigrant women and their families in the Seattle community.
HSD has a long history of partnering with ReWA, including a transformational award in 1999 of $578.6K of Community Development Block Grant (CDBG) funding. CDBG is federal funding for essential projects such as affordable housing, infrastructure improvements, and social services that benefit Seattle families. HSD would like to thank our federal delegation, including Senators Patty Murray and Maria Cantwell and Representatives Pramila Jayapal and Adam Smith, for their ongoing support of CDBG funding. These funds were used to build a new Southeast Seattle campus for ReWA when the creation of the Seattle light rail cut a path over their original facility.
Today, the campus is a thriving community center where refugee and immigrant women and their families access valuable programs and services, including English language instruction, employment services, housing assistance, citizenship support, youth programs, early learning opportunities, domestic violence support, and health and wellbeing resources.
Mahnaz Eshetu, ReWA Executive Director, describes the enduring relationship between the City and the agency, “Over 20 years ago, the Human Services Department helped ReWA build a new facility to continue to serve refugee and immigrant families in the Rainier Valley. Since then, our wraparound system of programs serves families from cradle to golden age, helping thousands of refugee families build a strong foundation for their lives in Seattle.”
Today, ReWA serves about 4,000 families or 11,000 individuals a year. In 2022, HSD awarded ReWA an additional grant of $1.5M in federal Coronavirus Local Fiscal Recovery (CLFR) money to develop a new child care and preschool center in Seattle’s Northgate neighborhood. The planned facility will add 108 licensed child care spaces in the community and is scheduled for completion in 2024. The agency estimates that 95% of their new licensed capacity will serve children from low- and moderate-income families.
Eshetu adds, “We are thrilled to have been awarded $1.5M in federal grant money from HSD to construct and establish a new early learning center in Northgate. This public-private partnership is a great investment in working families, helping them thrive and providing them with a roadmap for building stronger communities.”
Keep an eye out for more uplifting stories and opportunities as #SeattleHumanServices continues to celebrate #NationalCommunityDevelopment Week!