White Center Now: The blog about White Center

Story by Tracy Record
Photos by Torin Record-Sand
For White Center Now and West Seattle Blog

Of all the joyful smiles that abounded at today’s dedication of the White Center HUB and Canopy Apartments, the biggest had to be the one you can see above in our photo of Sili Savusa.

She was executive director of the White Center Community Development Association when it began the long road that led to today’s celebration of what was built on the 8th SW/SW 108th site where two small county-owned buildings used to offer services including food, health care, and shelter. The main event hall inside the HUB now carries her name; she said honors like that are usually posthumous, and she’s thrilled to still be around to see it.

Today’s big party came weeks after the buildings opened, and 20 months after the groundbreaking celebration. But the party spirit was strong. First came a series of ribboncuttings – each organization housed in the HUB and/or partnering in the project had its own section of ribbon:

Indigenous dancers and drummers immersed the crowd in sights and sounds of their cultures:

The ceremony was followed by an extensive lineup of speakers inside the HUB’s Savusa Hall. Here’s our video of all of them:

The prevailing sentiment was joy, but mixed with resolve and defiance, especially in light of another killing by federal agents in Minneapolis hours earlier, with countless speakers promising the HUB would be a place of safety.

U.S. House Rep. Pramila Jayapal said that providing a safe, beautiful, uplifting space was in its own way an act of resistance to what the Trump Administration is doing.

Newly elected King County Executive Girmay Zahilay brought his toddler daughter Jazzy to the stage, noting that the HUB is about the future. He also said he appreciates White Center because his new job is in essence “the mayor of the unincorporated areas” and he knows what that’s like firsthand because he grew up in Skyway.

34th District State House Rep. Brianna Thomas was the first to allude to what had happened this morning in Minnesota, decrying how the president and his administration are “dehumanizing” so many people, but promising, “We’re not going to let fear win.” She also urged those present to remember, “We are our ancestors’ wildest dreams!”

34th District State Sen. Emily Alvarado said, “Safety matters … we will keep our community safe from federal outreach.” As for the HUB itself, and its accompanying apartments, she noted, “We need to do bold, big things … this is bold, this is big.”

“Housing is dignity and housing is justice,” said Colleen Echohawk, new CEO of Community Roots Housing, the affordable-housing developer that oversaw the Canopy Apartments part of the project.

Another shining newly constructed jewel in White Center, the rebuilt Evergreen High School, was mentioned by Highline Public Schools superintendent Ivan Duran, whose two young sons joined him onstage. He too remarked on the ICE situation, saying that in 30 years as an educator, “I never thought I would have to (show) my staff how to deal with federal (agents).” He said immigrants are here because “this country was built on dreams” and that it must continue to be that kind of promising place.

HealthPoint CEO Lisa Yohalem‘s organization has space in the HUB:

She talked about their work to keep community members healthy and expressed excitement at their expansion into this area.

Also with a home in the HUB, FEEST, whose executive director Jaimée Marsh talked about the organization’s work in food justice and mental health, and the need “to keep uplifting young people.”

Essence Russ, executive director of Southwest Youth and Family Services, declared this to be a “monumental moment” and listed three requirements for making dreams into reality, as was the case with the HUB – people, purpose, and patience. In the first category, she lauded SWYFS’s longtime ED Steve Daschle for long envisioning SWYFS expanding into WC. Daschle was part of today’s event, at right in our photo below:

WCCDA’s Garcia then took a turn on the stage, exuberantly asking people who’d worked on the project to raise their hands, and asked for acknowledgment from thoe “who love White Center!” He also declared that, “This is here because the community refused to disappear … It’s proof that community leadership is not a theory, it is a practice.” He also talked about the project growing from seeds sownlong ago … “They might try to erase us, divide us, but they didn’t count on … the seeds already planted. … This is not about me or our organization, this is about us.” He also noted proudly that the project was finished on time and on budget.

The theme of seeds and growth carried into project partner YES Foundation of White Center executive director Pat Thompson said, saying the HUB isn’t something being harvested, but rather it’s a seed, and “today we mark the time when we put it in the ground.”

After a few words from representatives of organizations that helped with financing for the project, former State Sen. Joe Nguyen – recently departed as state Commerce Director – said he’s proud to be a White Center native, and believes this project is something WC needed. And: “White Center deserves nice things too.”

The speaker lineup concluded with a video message from King County Councilmember Teresa Mosqueda, who was at the HUB two weeks ago for her re-election campaign kickoff. Then the attendees moved on to refreshments and tours, as light poured in through its windows:

The Savusa Hall event space is available for rentals – all the info is at savusahall.org.

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