Seattle University Youth Initiative Winter Quarter Update

  Seattle Housing Authority Awarded $20 million for redevelopment of Yesler Terrace

In December 2012, the Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) selected Seattle Housing Authority as one of four recipients of a Choice Neighborhood grant.  Seattle Housing Authority will receive $19.73 million from HUD in addition to $10.5 million it received in September 2011.  With these grants Seattle Housing Authority will launch the redevelopment of the Yesler Terrace public housing development and strive to significantly improve education, health, and economic outcomes for children, youth and families. 

Seattle University, through its work with the Youth Initiative, is serving as the lead education partner for the Choice Neighborhoods Initiative.  In this role the University works closely with Seattle Housing Authority and other partners to implement a coordinated approach to ensure low-income children in the Yesler neighborhood have access to early learning programs, tutoring, summer academic enrichment programs, college preparation mentoring and scholarships.  These resources are meant to complement the learning that happens in the classroom. The University’s specific contributions to the Choice Neighborhoods effort include:

Data Analysis and Evaluation

Seattle University is committed to building a system of evaluating and improving the educational pipeline for youth living in the SUYI neighborhood through sharing information and analyses among partners. To that end, the University has hired a full-time data analyst to support the work of obtaining data sharing agreements between partners, building data infrastructure, conducting in-depth analysis, and reporting on important educational outcomes such as student test results, attendance, and high school graduation.

Summer Learning Opportunities

To combat the deleterious effects of summer learning loss, in 2012 the SUYI united the campus and community to double the number of summer literacy and enrichment opportunities for neighborhood youth. Over 280 neighborhood children and youth, half of whom were Yesler residents participated in programs focusing on kindergarten orientation, reading and math skills, middle school and high school transitions, media arts and college readiness.

Promoting Collective Impact

To promote mutually reinforcing activities, data-sharing, and a shared vision for change in the neighborhood, the University convenes community partners for monthly planning meetings and recently coordinated a conference on collective impact...  The goal of the conference was to identify areas for continued education, to increase communication between partners and to garner support around shared objectives for youth and families living in Yesler Terrace.