Next Brown Bag: Yesler2014 - Youth and the Redevelopment of Yesler Terrace
Where: GGLO Space at the Steps, 1301 First Ave., Level ADate: Thursday, August 26, 2010
Time: 12:00 pm to 1:30 pm
Enter through door located about 1/4 of the way down the Harbor Steps (click for map)
The Seattle Housing Authority (SHA) is currently working on its plans to redevelop Yesler Terrace, a public housing community located south of Harborview Medical Center and east of Pioneer Square along Yesler Way. The redevelopment of Yesler Terrace is now in the Environmental Impact Statement (EIS) process.
This presentation will focus on Yesler2014, a cooperative effort between SHA and Creatives4Community (C4C), a non-profit organization whose objective is to provide youth with a wide range of skills to impact and improve their local communities. The Yesler2014 program consists of 12 teens who reside in Yesler Terrace. The youth, guided by the counseling of C4C staff, spent several weeks during the summer examining Yesler Terrace's redevelopment and understanding the proposed schemes and process. This year's focus for the program is two-fold: understanding the EIS process and examining open space. This presentation, led primarily by the youth, will summarize what they've learned, including some preliminary design and visioning ideas by the youth in addition to a summary of additional spaces, places, and organizations throughout Seattle that Yesler2014 has visited for inspiration.
Presenters - C4C Staff:
Edward Hill is the founding director of C4C. He has worked locally and nationally to influence local green policies and practices, and to help drive cultural and ethnic diversification of urban agriculture, urban planning and community food systems development in the Northwest. Hill is completing his Masters in Urban Planning & Design at UW's College of Built Environment and has a Bachelors in Urban Studies and Education. He is currently managing 60 youth and 14 staff in four programs, providing an introduction to urban agriculture and urban ecology as well as stewarding over 6 acres of urban land.
With a team of other planning, design, and educational professionals, Hill started a successful urban sustainability certification program called GroundUp Organics, and has helped broker community land use agreements with local agencies for increased composting and food production in Seattle.
Heather McKee is the project lead for Yesler2014. Heather graduated from the University of Washington with a degree in Community, Environment and Planning. Throughout high school until the present she has been focused on community engagement through the arts and education. She started working at Yesler with the Youth Tutoring Program three years ago and this is her second summer with Yesler2014.
Daniel Kastoryanoe, a staff counselor for Yesler2014, grew up in Geneva, Switzerland. He has worked with teens in a variety of countries and settings, as a facilitator for training peer health educators in Mali, and as a member of outreach teams working with behaviorally-challenged adolescents in Worcester, Massachusetts and in Geneva. In 2010, Daniel earned a Masters of Urban Planning degree from the University of Washington, with a focus on stormwater management, decisions-making hierarchies, community outreach, and hazard mitigation. Aside from his experience in the field of planning, he has experience in marketing, transportation planning, and international microfinance. Daniel believes that when working with adolescents, there is never a dull day, which is what makes such work extremely interesting.
Cynthia Padilla is a staff counselor for Yesler2014 and a registered architect with 12 years of experience in the Philadelphia area. She has recently earned a Master of Urban Planning with a Certificate in Urban Design from the University of Washington, and is currently a principle partner in a small Seattle area planning and design firm. Although this is her first year as a Yesler2014 counselor, Cynthia has extensive experience with youth through mentoring students in architecture/urban design in addition to several years of coaching soccer, basketball, and softball.
Mary Roderick is pursuing an Interdisciplinary PhD in Urban Planning and Design at the University of Washington. After careers in literacy education and non-profit management, followed by IT development and consulting in Germany, she returned to the US to advocate socially-oriented and ecologically-sensitive planning. She provided staff support and content development for Yesler 2014, and is currently a staff counselor for the organization.
Presenters - C4C Youth:
Jamila Abdi, Madrona K-8, 8th grade
Najma Abdirahman, Ingraham High School, 10th grade
Abdulahi Adan, Roosevelt High School, 12th grade
Zemzem Ahmed, Garfield High School, 10th grade
Kalkidan Bedada, Garfield High School, 10th grade
Andrea Brown, Garfield High School, 9th grade
Nelley Dorbor, Seattle Central, 2nd year
Nimo Farrah, Nathan Hale High School, graduate
Fatuma Mahmud, Garfield High School, 9th grade
Guadalupe Ordonez, Garfield High School, 10th grade
Edgar Rivas, Garfield High School, 10th grade
Maria Delos Angeles Rivas-Garcia, South Seattle Middle College
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