News

Gracious Space and undoing white supremacy culture

December 1, 2020

Last month’s Equity IRL talked about white supremacy culture and if you read further, the accompanying article also offered some antidotes. Several years ago, Neighborhood House adopted Gracious Space, which is based on Gracious Space: A Practical Guide for Working Better Together written by Pat Hughes and published by the Center for Ethical Leadership. Gracious Space, when done …

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What is white supremacy culture?

November 2, 2020

When you think of white supremacy, many people think of people wearing white hoods, burning crosses, and terrorizing Black people, Jews, LGBTQ people and other people of color. But, white supremacy is also white supremacy culture – an invisible force that keeps people of color and those without power silent and powerless. Living and working …

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Introducing our newest location in Renton!

October 23, 2020

We are happy to announce that the new Sunset Neighborhood Center in Renton officially opened its doors on October 12! The center will host numerous social service agencies, including tenants from Neighborhood House, along with HealthPoint, Valley Cities, and St. Vincent de Paul. Neighborhood House first got involved in this project in 2016 when the …

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Why some locals are skeptical about Jeff Bezos’ free preschool near Seattle

October 14, 2020

“If Bezos or any other wealthy donor were to fund existing free preschool programs for low-income families in Washington, there are many areas that their wealth can fill, according to Karin Ganz, an administrator at the Washington State Department of Children, Youth and Families (DCYF). They include supporting more mental health consultation services for parents …

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Inequities in accessing unemployment

October 1, 2020

The ongoing COVID-19 pandemic has resulted in expanded unemployment benefits, which has made many more community members eligible for unemployment than were before. This benefit has been a much needed lifeline as people were laid off and/or lost hours of work. As Washington State’s Employment Security Department’s (ESD is the department that administers Unemployment benefits) …

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Taxes are an equity issue

August 3, 2020

10.1% That’s how much you are paying when you purchase most basic necessities, except unprepared food. Diapers, household goods, and prepared food are all subject to sales tax. Sales taxes are regressive taxes where everyone pays the same tax rate regardless of their income. Because everyone pays the same, higher-income taxpayers pay a smaller percentage of …

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Babies in King County need our help now

July 16, 2020

On average, a child uses 6 – 12 diapers per day. This can add up to $60 – $80 per month, which places a significant burden on Neighborhood House’s low-income families. Even though diapers are essential items for families with small children, those costs are not covered by WIC or food stamps. To support our …

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Defund the police?

July 1, 2020

A significant portion of this article is an excerpt from a letter signed by over 275 Asian Pacific Islander American community organizations, businesses, and leaders to the Mayor of Seattle and Seattle City Council dated June 22, 2020. Main authors are: Chrissy Shimizu, SuYoung Yun, and Gabrielle Nomura Gainor. When advocates call to defund the …

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Black Lives Matter

June 2, 2020

Dear Neighborhood House, Like many of you, I watched in horror and disgust how yet another unarmed Black person was killed by a police officer. George Floyd’s murder on May 25, 2020, in Minneapolis, MN comes on the heels of Breonna Taylor’s death in Louisville, KY on May 13, 2020, shot by police officers with …

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Gender Pronouns

June 1, 2020

In English, we often use pronouns to refer to someone in the third person. These pronouns have an implied gender – such as “he” to refer to a man or “she” to refer to a woman – and these associations aren’t always accurate or helpful. We often make assumptions about the gender of person based …

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Unemployment in King County hits communities of color hardest

May 29, 2020

“The low jobless rates of the past several years masked just how precarious the financial picture was, Deguchi said. The reality was that many people, particularly in immigrant communities and communities of color, were balancing multiple low-wage jobs just to get by, and the coronavirus has now toppled that house of cards.” Read the full …

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Staying safe and healthy with guidance from Public Health

May 18, 2020

Our staff have been getting lots of questions about COVID-19. What are the symptoms? Where to get tested? How to properly wear a mask? If you need quick answers from a trusted source, please visit the Public Health Seattle & King County website for the latest guidance on the coronavirus. The website is continuously updated by our local public …

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COVID-19 and race

May 1, 2020

COVID-19 has had an impact on almost all of us. We’ve had to change how we work, socialize, practice our faith, and recreate. But for communities of color, these impacts can be devastating. According to data released last week by Johns Hopkins University, African Americans are much more likely to get sick and die of COVID-19. In …

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Watch our videos on expanded unemployment benefits

April 25, 2020

Neighborhood House staff have created videos on the new expanded unemployment benefits in multiple languages: Amharic, Burmese, Cantonese, Farsi, Khmer, Mandarin, Marshallese, Oromo, Russian, Somali, Tigrinya, Ukrainian, and Vietnamese. Click the buttons below to watch. – – – – – – – – – –

Combatting racism during COVID-19

April 1, 2020

“Chinese virus” or “kung flu” are racist terms that put Asian and Asian Americans at risk of hate crimes. After the international news broke about the coronavirus and Washington’s first case confirmed on January 21, immigrant and refugee community leaders and organizations noticed an alarming increase in bias and harassment against Asian American communities. The …

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Our COVID-19 response and how you can help

March 19, 2020

This is an unprecedented time for all of us and throughout this crisis, our priority remains the health and safety of our staff and wellbeing of our clients. Neighborhood House is still open and still serving our community. We continue to offer critical services over the phone, via email, and utilizing social distancing. Neighborhood House’s …

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2020 Fakequity Pledge

March 2, 2020

The following is an excerpt from 2020 Fakequity Pledge, published January 2, 2020, on Fakequity, a blog written by Erin Okuno. To see the full list and subscribe to the blog, go to fakequity.com. 2020 is here, the start of a new decade. In the 2020 Fakequity pledge list, I’ve organized the list by how we live …

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