Seattle Press on Line - The Heart of a Neighborhood

Cascade

The Heart of a Neighborhood

By Sara Longley

Alvin Sinclair (left) and Treshaun Pittman clown around during a day camp at the Cascade People's Center.

Aug 01, 2002 -- "Everything here belongs to everyone," says Robin Russell, director of the Cascade People's Center. "It's one of the core principles of this place." She goes on to tell a teenager that he's welcome to paint anything he likes on the interior walls. Already, the walls are thickly covered with finished art projects, announcements and holiday decorations. The painted slogan "Lydia is cool" graces a spot directly over the entrance to a front office.

Located next to the Cascade Playground and the community P-patch, the center occupies a low cinderblock building. On the outside it doesn't look very inviting, but inside it has the warm feel of a large, well-used family room. "When things look too polished it sends a message: 'you're not wanted,'" Russell said. "We're definitely not polished, and we want everyone!"

Everyone, it seems, comes here sooner or later. In a neighborhood with a population of just over 2,000, more than 4,000 people a year use the programs and services offered by the People's Center. And people are the driving force behind those services. For every staff hour, volunteers work nearly two and a half hours. Volunteers also write grant applications, a volunteer Leadership Council interviews and hires new staff members, and the people who use the Center decide what programs should be offered--and frequently end up running the programs themselves.

Vanessa Norouzi poses for the camera.

The center is surrounded with evidence of volunteer activity: a Giving Garden alongside the P-patch is tended and harvested by anyone who wants fresh produce, and extra crops are donated to a local meal program. An area next to the center building is dubbed the Garden of Earthly Happiness and features drought-resistant native plantings and a gazebo which sits atop a huge cistern. The cistern catches runoff from the center's roof, which can be used to water the gardens. Soon, the center itself will undergo an "eco-renovation" and acquire a partially green roof with solar panels, and new garage door-style wall sections on the south side of the building. Russell said the renovations will also include elements like a periscope so that kids using the center can see how the green roof works, and other educational tools. The renovation design was created by students at the University of Washington School of Architecture.

"We're just facilitators," said Russell. "They tell us what they want to see here, and we help them make it happen."

Giovanna Andrade and Julia Joo in their playhouse.

Today, she is facilitating a day camp. Two small girls clamber over her as she sits in the Center's front room. The day camp is a program that happened because of community demand, she said. "It was started for school-age kids, then gradually we started taking five-year-olds, then four. We even have a few three-year-olds, but we have to be sure it will work out." Besides Vanessa and Julia, who are busily trying to distract Russell from conversation by doing gymnastics on the arms of her chair, there is a group of kids playing ball in the playground and several more running around through the center's three spacious rooms.

Other regular programs at the center include a weekly free yoga class, an informal Spanish class, a parent and baby play group, films, and whatever else people dream up. The center is available for meeting space for any group that espouses the same principles of inclusiveness as the center. "The only group we turned away was the Cub Scouts," Russell said.

Russell emphasized that all the center's programs are free, and free childcare is provided with every program.

Because the People's Center is administered by Lutheran Social Services, you won't find it in Seattle's Department of Neighborhood listings of community centers. But the programs are open to anyone who is interested, and volunteers are welcome no matter where they live. For more information about programs, classes, or volunteer opportunities call (206) 587-0320.

The Cascade People's Center will host a Cascade Block Party on August 6 from 4 - 8 p.m. It's a great time to drop by and introduce yourself, and check out the center and its programs.

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