White Center Now: The blog about White Center

For the second time in a week, someone has held up a White Center marijuana store. One week ago tonight, Uncle Ike’s was robbed; we had a reader report but could not follow up the next day because of the holiday, and it fell off our radar until just now, when police radio broadcast a report that Bud Nation was held up a short time ago by a robber with a gun. We’ll follow up on both Tuesday.

We have been asked many times in the past few weeks, when is the White Center Popeyes Louisiana Kitchen opening? Today, we have the answer – Wednesday (July 12th). Thanks to Gill for the tip; after hearing from him, we went by a short time ago and a sign in the window confirms it – “Opening Wednesday, 10 am.” (Still hiring, too.) It’s been 13 months since we broke the news that Popeyes and Starbucks were coming to what was then the site of White Center Chevron. Everything previously on the site was subsequently demolished, and the two chains’ new stores have been built by scratch. As reported here last month, Starbucks says it expects to open next month. Both businesses are drive-thrus.

You might have seen these advocacy walkers passing through White Center earlier today – thanks to “Kailua Boy” for the photos. It’s the second day of the Walk to Protect and Restore Our Salish Sea, which started on the downtown Seattle waterfront Friday afternoon, stopped for the night at the Duwamish Tribe Longhouse in West Seattle, and is headed south toward Des Moines today.

Tomorrow, the walkers head for Tacoma, where they plan to rally against a liquefied-natural-gas plant project.

One of U.S. Senator Maria Cantwell‘s three upcoming “town hall” meetings is in White Center, at TEC High School (830 SW 116th SW). It’s at 11 am next Saturday, July 8th. You’re asked to RSVP if you’re interested in attending – go here.

(White Center Now photo by Patrick Sand)

That was the happy scene at Evergreen Community Aquatic Center on Thursday afternoon, as Amerigroup Washington reps formalized a $5,000 donation. The money will help pay for families experiencing homelessness to continue using the showers there, and to use the pool for swimming lessons and open- and family-swim sessions. Earlier this week, we mentioned the shower usage as part of our followup on the Mary’s Place-operated shelter in White Center, and that organization is a partner in this project, along with Neighborhood House. The announcement explains:

… This effort began when all four organizations gathered to explore the possibility of using the pool showers as a temporary showering facility for residents at each homeless shelter. Many of these families do not have showering facilities and the new Mary’s Place Family Center shelter in White Center only has one shower available, while two others are being added. Upon further discussions, the opportunity to increase access to swimming and water safety lessons also came about as part of this partnership. …

This money will support the support staff, issuing of towels and a voucher system to allow these residents to come to the pool with a user pass during regular operating hours to use the facilities. This sponsorship can also will support over 150 full session swimming lessons (8 classes per session) and /or full use of the family swim and open swim times at the pool.

A new start date for the Roxbury sidewalk-building project between 28th and 30th SW – July 10th. That’s the latest from King County Roads. The work will close a lane on the south side of SW Roxbury – eastbound – on weekdays, as there will be concrete replacement work on the road as well as sidewalk construction in the area where the walkway is now just painted. The work is expected to take less than two months.

(EDITOR’S NOTE: WCN and WSB are participating in the multiple-media-outlet #SeaHomeless day of special coverage. For the occasion, we revisited what is the White Center/West Seattle area’s only fulltime shelter, which opened in late March. This story appears on both websites.)

(Toys on a shelf in the ‘mini-mart’ at the Mary’s Place shelter in White Center)

By Tracy Record
Editor, White Center Now and West Seattle Blog

It’s the shelter that almost wasn’t.

At an acrimonious community meeting last September – when King County revealed it was weeks away from opening a shelter in its former Public Health clinic at 8th SW/SW 108th in White Center – some threatened legal action to stop it.

But that’s not what happened.

Instead, community leaders and other residents formed a task force. They made a counter-proposal. Instead of the low-barrier, adults-only, overnight shelter that the county wanted the Salvation Army to operate, the counter-proposal was for a 24-hour family shelter to be operated by Mary’s Place, which specializes in helping homeless families.

The county agreed. Mary’s Place agreed. The followup community meeting in January had applause instead of shouting. And three months ago, the shelter opened. No lawsuits. No protests.

We toured on March 21st, just before the first families arrived. And that was the last time we visited the shelter – until this week, when we requested to drop in for a followup.

Our tour guide and interviewee was Liz McDaniel, family-shelter developer for Mary’s Place, who has been with the organization for eight years, dating back to when it was just the operator of a “day center” – now, it’s so much more. She understates her role: “I get to open all our new sites.” And in fact, she had opened a new one the night before our conversation, at the opposite end of King County, up in Shoreline.

But we were there to talk about White Center, the only fulltime shelter in the WC/West Seattle area. As of our Tuesday morning interview, 15 families were there, 55 people – 20 adults and 35 children. And there’s still room for more – official capacity is 70 people.

Another statistic: Since opening June 21st, the shelter “has served more than 3,400 bed nights.”

“Guests,” as Mary’s Place refers to the people it’s sheltering, are referred by the county program Coordinated Entry for All, which works with the 211 hotline.

And McDaniel says they are keeping “the promise that we made to the community, that we would prioritize families that are already in this neighborhood.”

Three months in, they are still completing renovations/additions that are needed so that the former clinic can truly serve as a livable space. One that catches our eye immediately upon entry fills a small atrium/courtyard:

The play area is the work of the Seattle University College of Engineering, we’re told. And like so many other things at the shelter, volunteers helped make it happen, including those who cleared the area of its weedy plantings.

Other work that is expected to be done by mid-July is adapting a restroom to make it accessible, and adding two showers in what was a storage area so the building has three – the Evergreen Aquatic Center, a mile away, has in the meantime been making its showers available to shelter families.

Crews also are converting another storage area into a laundry room:

In the meantime, all the laundry has to be sent offsite. And a “small kitchen” is being added as well, so some cooking can be done at the shelter.

So what happens during the course of a day at the shelter?

For the adults- “services that focus on housing and employment.” Throughout the open spaces in the shelter, there are signs, and set-aside areas, devoted to those focuses.

They get help working on applications, determining what are their barriers to housing, getting “tools to move forward.” The shelter has been open almost the exact length of an “average stay across all our locations” – 87 days. But three families already have moved out into housing, despite the challenge of rising rents, “harder and harder for families to afford, particularly if they’re a single-parent household – it’s challenging to find something to afford within Seattle. We spread the branches wide and look all over the place, White Center, Burien, Renton, Kent, places that families can afford.”

Mary’s Place also has launched a new “diversion program to help divert families from shelter directly into housing,” which requires “flexible funding,” so if you’re looking to donate money – that program could use it, she adds.

For employment, guests spend time filling out resumes, looking for openings, getting practice in “mock interviews.”

For the kids, there’s an immediate effort to be sure they are enrolled in school, and to arrange for transportation “within 48 hours of arriving.” This location is on school-bus routes, though at some of the other Mary’s Place sites in the region, they work with Metro, taxicabs, “whatever.” Now that school is out for the summer, the focus is on activities; McDaniel says they have been “working all year” on getting scholarships to day camps around the area, and kids are already out at camps ranging from art to environmental activities.

Health care also is available through the shelter, with a nurse on site part of the time.

Some aspects of shelter life involve clearing up misconceptions. McDaniel says some presume that shelters can be “a scary place – but we work hard to create a safe and welcoming community, where families can sit down and have a meal together, where kids can play appropriate to their age, where people feel welcomed as soon as they walk in the door … A lot of families are afraid they’ll lose their children when people find out they’re homeless. But your kids can’t be taken away simply (because of that).”

While Mary’s Place works on “a 90-day model … some families have more extended barriers” and it takes longer for them to get back onto their feet. Especially refugee families, McDaniel notes. Most of those who Mary’s Place is serving now are from East Africa, particularly Eritrea, though MP also has seen “our first few Syrian families,” as well as some from South Asia and Central America.

Wherever they are from, Mary’s Place emphasizes “the inherent belief that our families are good enough, and have the capability, to take care of their own families – they were housed at one point and they’ll be housed again. They have the tools to meet their own needs. There’s just a one-time gap – 97 percent of families experiencing homelessness will never experience it again. We help them navigate a really hard system at a traumatic time in their lives. We do it better together.”

Those working “together” at this shelter include about 20 staffers as well as the 55 guests, and volunteers. The guests have responsibilities beyond seeking housing and (if not already employed) work: They are assigned chores, for which points are awarded.

Those points can be spent at an on-site “store” with items such as clothing.

The youngest guests are able to earn points, too, and they have what the sign on the door dubs the “mini-mart” (top photo).

We asked McDaniel if the process of getting the shelter up to full speed has brought any surprises. “I think the biggest kind of joy and surprise has been the way the community has surrounded the space … we saw that in the work group and the process to get in. That has not waned. Between the schools and organizations already in the neighborhood” – she mentions White Center-headquartered WestSide Baby in particular – “(people) have stood alongside us and provided tools and resources to be sure this is a sustainable program in the community … White Center is such a strong community. People continued to bring in meals and donations and volunteer, and that excitement hasn’t gone away.”

A far cry from last September’s rancor.

WHAT YOU CAN DO: There’s a “daily need” for volunteers at the shelter – especially to help with the kids, “with outings, and during the school year with homework help,” McDaniel says. No prerequisites except to be “people who like people.” Information on volunteering is on the Mary’s Place website.

For donatable items – blankets and diapers remain their biggest need. Yes, the kids at the shelter right now include babies.

And the biggest need of all is space – this shelter is open, the aforementioned new one in Shoreline is open, but the need for more shelter space around the metro area continues. Despite that, this shelter is not intended to be permanent; the county and nonprofits are working on a long-range plan for a mixed-use project at the site that would include housing as well as headquarters for several nonprofits. That’ll be the topic of a separate followup.

Noon today brings the official start of fireworks sales in unincorporated King County. But you can’t legally use them until next Tuesday – July 4th – 9 am to midnight on that day only. Here are the rules.

Announced today by the King County Council:

Communities in unincorporated King County will see increased traffic safety patrols after today’s unanimous approval by the Metropolitan King County Council of funds for emphasis patrols. Sponsored by Council Vice Chair Reagan Dunn, the legislation allocates funds for an additional 1,100 hours of increased traffic enforcement by the King County Sheriff’s Office.

“I heard concerns about traffic enforcement from residents of unincorporated King County over and over again at my annual town hall meetings,” said Dunn. “Increased visibility by the Sheriff’s office in unincorporated King County will help keep our children and our community’s safe by reminding drivers to obey traffic laws.”

“The number one complaint I hear from residents is speeding in neighborhoods,” said King County Sheriff John Urquhart. “These funds will help to address that concern, as well as help to keep our streets safe from drunk drivers.”

Today’s legislation appropriated $100,000 to the Sheriff’s Office and restricts the funds for use in increasing patrols for traffic safety enforcement in Unincorporated King County. Enforcement will focus around schools, patrols for Driving Under the Influence (DUI), and speeding drivers.

Passing 16th SW/SW 100th on Monday, we spotted the signs, one year after we brought you first word that Popeyes Louisiana Kitchen and Starbucks would be opening new stores where White Center Chevron used to be.

While the Starbucks building signage wasn’t up yet, the sign answers a question we hadn’t been able to get the company to answer – yes, it’ll be a drive-thru, as will Popeyes. We did reach Starbucks today for comment on the opening timeframe; they tell us they expect the store to open in August. (As you might recall, the location will also feature a job-training program.) We are still trying to get opening info from Popeyes, via either their local franchisees or national HQ; no luck yet.

From South Seattle College:

With graduation season in full swing, the TRiO Educational Opportunity Center (EOC) at South Seattle College wants to help community members achieve their own academic and career goals. From June 19-25, EOC advisors will hold Educational Opportunity Week, visiting seven local community centers to offer free one-on-one help to adults with questions about paying for and attending college.

The EOC provides guidance and assistance to adults who want to begin or restart their college education or career training. Services are free to eligible individuals, and EOC staff primarily aims to support low-income students, first-generation college students and veterans (including family members). EOC advisors are trained to provide assistance with financial aid (FAFSA), funding options, career guidance and college admissions applications to adults who seek to enter or continue an academic or vocational degree or certificate program, whether that program is at South Seattle College or another college or university in the area.

(Here’s the local community center getting a visit:)

· June 22: 9 a.m.-6 p.m., Greenbridge Community Center, 9800 8th Ave SW, Seattle

Educational Opportunity Center Hours and Contact Information

The EOC is located at South Seattle College’s main campus (6000 16th Ave SW in West Seattle), and open Monday through Friday from 9 a.m.-4:30 p.m. Please note the Center will close at 1 p.m. on Fridays from June 23 – Sept. 28. Extended hours are available by appointment.

To learn more about Educational Opportunity Week, schedule a one-on-one appointment or to create a personalized educational plan with an EOC advisor, please call 206-934-5208 or email trio-eoc@seattlecolleges.edu.

It’s the first week of summer vacation for Highline Public Schools students – last Friday (June 16th) was the last day of the school year. The calendar on the HPS website says students’ first day back will be September 6th.

Power went out for more than 2,000 homes and businesses in parts of White Center, South Park, and West Seattle at 11:19 am. Seattle City Light says a crash caused it; some traffic lights, including 8th/Roxbury (which is dangerous enough when the signal’s working), are out, so please remember that means they’re all-way stops until restored. SCL hopes to have this fixed by 2:30-ish pm.

The photo and report arrived tonight:

Today, White Center residents Mark Ufkes and his oldest son Patrick have finally reached the furthest point east on the North American continent that a person can drive to, Cape Spear in Newfoundland, Canada. The drive is over 5,000 miles from Seattle. The Seattle Heart Canada sign is a big hit here. People honking and waving all the time. Next stop, Ice Berg Alley, and then a drive across Labrador in search of Polar Bears to photograph before heading home.

We don’t know what route they took but if you put Seattle and Cape Spear into Google Maps – here’s what you get.

(Photo courtesy Unified Brewing)

Just in – the announcement that the former Big Al Brewing location at 9832 14th SW in White Center has a new brewery moving in:

After nearly two years of searching for a location, and trying to keep our plans under wraps, we are excited to introduce to the world, Unified Brewing Company. We recently signed a long-term lease to move into the old Pacific Rim Brewing / Big Al Brewing location in White Center. There has been a brewery in that building for nearly twenty years and we’re happy that we can continue that tradition of being White Center’s Brewery.

We’ll be doing a little more than putting on a fresh coat of paint. We recently put down our deposit on a new 20bbl Brewhouse from JVNW out of Canby Oregon, a manufacturer we feel is at the top of their game for brewing equipment. We’ll brew a wide variety of styles to be served in our brewpub as well as some limited distribution.

Our team collectively has over 50 years experience in the beer world in all facets from Production, Importing, Distribution, and Publican:

Our partner and Brewer, Kevin Watson, has brewed for over 18 years for the likes of Hales, Allagash, and most recently Elysian Brewing. Having grown up in White Center, he is pleased to be making beer just down the street from where he played little league and mere blocks from where he first homebrewed in his parents kitchen.

Mike Baker, former founder and owner of Baron Brewing Company in South Park, Seattle, is also responsible for bringing delicious German beers to the U.S. through his import company NW Beverage Group.

Dean Hudgins and Ian Roberts are the owners of The Pine Box, a successful craft beer bar on Capitol Hill.

New to the beer biz is Larry Solomon, a friend from across the bar top with a wealth of business knowledge.

Mike Baker and Ian Roberts are also two of the founders and organizers of Seattle Beer Week, a ten-day celebration of all things beer across the city, now going on its 10th year.

With all of our renovations, licensing, and equipment on order, we plan to be open to the public early 2018.

Jubilee Days is huge this year – on 16th AND 17th SW – and has just announced an appropriately huge music lineup:

White Center Jubilee Days, Monumental Undertaking, and Match + Gasoline present
WHITE CENTER JUBILEE DAYS 2017
Live Music on the Jubilee Days Main Stage
July 22-23, 2017

ABOUT WHITE CENTER JUBILEE DAYS MAIN STAGE
For the 2017 Jubilee Days festival, we are thrilled to be presenting a broad and dynamic main stage lineup featuring some of our favorite bands from around the Seattle area, including several bands based out of our very own White Center. The 2017 Main Stage will be located at 16th Ave SW & SW 100th St and there will be a rockin’ beer garden (21+, with proper ID required) running from noon-10pm’ish each day.

White Center Jubilee Days Live Music poster design by Dan Cunneen at Oranj Screen Printing & Graphic Design

MAIN STAGE LINEUP
Please see for more information about the bands, including links to their websites and Facebook pages.

SAT, JULY 22

HOBOSEXUAL – 8:30pm
THE BLACK TONES – 7:30pm
ACAPULCO LIPS – 6:30pm
SKATES! – 5:30pm
TOUGH TIMES – 4:30pm
DYNAMITE NUGGET – 3:30pm
THE DEAD LETTERS – 2:30pm
TWICE NICE – 1:30pm

SUN, JULY 23

DELVON LAMARR ORGAN TRIO (DLO3) – 7:30pm
THADDILLAC – 6:30pm
THE SPOILS (of Seattle) – 5:30pm

More Sunday lineup information coming soon!

Just announced by the White Center Food Bank – the new WCFB executive director:

On behalf of our community, our clients, and the Board, staff and volunteers at the White Center Food Bank, we would like to cordially and excitedly welcome our new leader, Dr. Angela Beard.

After an exhaustive search for a candidate to lead our amazing Food Bank into the future, we are excited to welcome Dr. Beard into our community.

Dr. Angela C. Beard has been a nonprofit practitioner, board member and scholar for nearly 30 years. Dr. Beard began her fundraising career as the grants manager for Pacific Northwest Ballet and has held leadership positions in fund development at ArtsFund, the Museum of History and Industry, the Seattle Repertory Theatre and Seattle Youth Symphony Orchestras.

Dr. Beard served as Executive Director at Cancer Lifeline, a nonprofit dedicated to improving the quality of life for cancer patients and survivors.

Before joining the White Center Food Bank, she was an instructor in the Masters of Nonprofit Leadership program at Seattle University.

Dr. Beard has provided consultant services to numerous local and national organizations including Delridge Neighborhood Development Association and a year-long project national project studying fundraising practices in social justice organizations with the Research Center for Leadership in Action at New York University. In 2011 she received her doctorate in public administration from the Robert F. Wagner School at New York University, specializing in nonprofit management, financial management, applied statistics and survey/sampling techniques.

Dr. Beard has also served on the boards of several nongovernmental organizations in both the arts and human service sectors. In her spare time, she loves to read, travel, craft, rollerblade and chase after her four rescued critters Tinsel, Poppy, Raven, and Momo.

She will officially be joining us in July, but feel free to extend a warm welcome to our new leader and Executive Director, Dr. Angela Beard!

Longtime WCFB leader Rick Jump announced his retirement back in January.

1:06 AM: In case you wanted to go to Wednesday night’s “town hall” for North Highline, part of the King County Community Service Area program, but couldn’t – we recorded the presentations and Q/A. It was held at Seola Gardens.

Of the three top-billed county officials mentioned in previews, King County Council Chair Joe McDermott – who represents our area on the council – and Deputy County Executive Rhonda Berry were there; Sheriff John Urquhart was not – his chief of technical services (including 911) Patti Cole-Tindall was there instead. Many other county officials there, including County Assessor John Arthur Wilson, County Transportation Department Director Harold Taniguchi, County Parks Director Kevin Brown, and more – you will see all the introductions at the start of our video, which runs an hour and a half and is unedited. Alan Painter, manager of the Community Service Area program, facilitated.

7:33 AM: One attendee, community advocate Gill Loring, tells WCN that a participating county official talked with him afterward to correct something she had said – Karen Freeman from the county executive’s staff said that local businesses are not required to have garbage pickup, but later acknowledged that’s inaccurate – they are.

Tonight, the annual King County Community Service Area town-hall meeting for North Highline is set for 7 pm at Seola Gardens (11215 5th SW).

Those in attendance at last Thursday’s North Highline Unincorporated Area Council meeting got several reminders that it will be a good place to take concerns about ongoing issues.

Those concerns included the ongoing unauthorized camping along Myers Way, the plan currently under review for a marijuana-processing facility on the basement level of the building where Beer Star just opened, and the big multifamily-housing complex under construction at the old grocery site in Top Hat.

Also at the NHUAC meeting: Charlie Governali, King County’s land conservation projects manager, was a guest. He was asked if there was any chance the county could buy the Myers Way Parcels. No, he said, that’s city of Seattle property. Meantime, he was asked about trade-offs for developers that can help preserve land. One example, he said, are fees that go directly to the conservation fund, but that doesn’t happen often in the county’s unincorporated area. He asked for suggestions of green spaces that should be preserved, and NHUAC president Liz Giba suggested that when the King County Public Health building that currently houses the Mary’s Place shelter is available, that would be a good addition to the nearby parkland. (Currently there’s an early-stage plan to develop the site, including the White Center Food Bank HQ to the south, into affordable housing and headquarters for nonprofits.)

The other guest was Carlos Marquez, who spoke about Block Watches and the Citizen’s Academy. For the former, he’s working on reviving Block Watch captains’ meetings, initially the Burien and North Highline captains, and he expects to have more information by fall. Before then, Night Out is coming up on August 1st, and people can get started now on forming Block Watches. He had suggestions for safety improvements at home – more lighting, video doorbell, better networking with neighbors. And: “If you see something, say something.”

NHUAC SCHEDULE: July’s meeting will be board-only, but the board hopes to see everyone at this year’s new-and-improved Jubilee Days festival. No meeting in August, but September, it’ll be back to the first Thursday, 7 pm, NH Fire District HQ (1243 SW 112th) – watch northhighlineuac.org for updates in the meantime.

New information today on a case we reported yesterday on partner site West Seattle Blog after learning of this big police response on SB Highway 509 (shown in our video above).

Police now believe the death of a 25-year-old man in an unauthorized encampment on the slope between 509 and Myers Way was a homicide. This morning, they reported a 43-year-old man has been arrested and jailed. The cause of the victim’s death has not yet been announced but police say they learned “an assault” had taken place. The suspect has a fairly lengthy criminal record, according to state records online; the felony cases are mostly drug-related.