Category: Stories

BSK Grantee Spotlight—Iraqi Community Center of Washington

Lensé Esheté is struck by the love that is the foundation of her organization. “We make our constituents feel like they have a home, where they can go and be understood.” For the Iraqi Community Center of Washington (IRCCW), this is not a hyperbole. Serving immigrant and refugees from Iraq, IRCCW is an organization that was formed by community members in order to meet the needs of their peers and continues to be steered by immigrant and refugee participants. IRCCW often pays for the US accreditation for newly arrived Iraqis whose degrees and licenses don’t easily transfer. The data systems … [ ]

Serving community through the kitchen

By Sierra Wagner

Community permeates every aspect of Ms. Patrice Freeman’s kitchen at the Rainier Vista Boys & Girls Club of King County in southeast Seattle. Smiles from the pictures of family members, staff, and Club graduates are posted all over the kitchen walls. The food is more than just nutritious and filling, it’s delicious. Nothing asserts this claim more than the clean plates kids present to staff after meals. I was able to sample the meal being served the day I visited the Boys & Girls Club and taste the flavors curated by Ms. Patrice. The warm, soft whole-grain bread, crunchy coleslaw, and sweet mangos … [ ]

Doubling the numbers—exponential growth in participation and retention for the afterschool center at the Salvation Army Seattle in White Center

By Sierra Wagner

Washington is ranked 25th hungriest state in the nation with 1 in 5 kids in our state living in a household that struggles to put food on the table. Food insecurity refers to households that lack available financial resources for food or may have to make trade-offs between basic needs and buying adequate nutritious food. Hunger can create obstacles to learning and growing. Afterschool and summer meals are a critical component of keeping children and youth all across our state full, healthy, and ready to learn. During their time at the After School Center, youth receive supper, homework help (math, spelling, reading), activities, … [ ]

Bureau of Fearless Ideas is strengthening intentional social-emotional learning practices

School has let out, and for youth attending the Bureau of Fearless Ideas (BFI) in Seattle, they enter their afterschool program in style: teleporting. A nonprofit writing and communication center, BFI draws youth from all over the city with an office in the Greenwood neighborhood and a more recently opened space at Yesler Terrace.  The Greenwood space is co-located with the Greenwood Space Travel Supply Co., a store selling the “finest space travel supplies” including a variety of games, and other fun materials whose sales support BFI’s services.     As youth arrive at BFI’s Greenwood space, they walk through the store and enter … [ ]

Newport students keep ‘active minds’ during the summer of STEM

By Ready WA

Check out this great blog post written by our partners at Ready WA featuring one of our Feed Your Brain grantees in Newport!  Ready WA is a statewide coalition that believes every Washington student should graduate high school prepared for a successful future, on the education and career path they choose. The recipe for summer learning in Newport, Wash., looks like one part science lab, one part reading room, and two parts fun. The 80 students participating in The Summer of STEM program are building roller coasters, creating cars out of pasta, engineering popsicle stick bridges, constructing elaborate towers for marbles to run through, … [ ]

How we celebrated Summer Learning Day

By School's Out Washington

In honor of National Summer Learning Day, a team of SOWA staff joined State Representative Shelley Kloba from the 1st District, Megan McJennett from King County, and Ken Nsimbi from King County Housing Authority (KCHA) on July 12 to visit Best Starts for Kids-funded programs in action at Southwest Youth and Family Services’ (SWYFS) New Futures program.  One of hundreds of celebrations across the country, we saw firsthand the positive impact of high-quality summer learning in engaging youth in building new skills, discovering passions, and connecting with caring adults. Our team of visitors observed some incredible activities run by Place-Based Collaborative partners SWYFS, Geeking Out Kids of Color (GOKiC), and Arts … [ ]