EDITORIAL Parking discrimination? 

■EDITORIAL

Parking discrimination?

It felt like a step toward normalcy in a post-pandemic world.

Visitors swarmed the Chinatown-International District (ID) over the Memorial Day weekend, bringing crowds that have been missing for a better part of a year, since COVID-19 arrived in Washington state and the U.S.

Those crowds—a welcome sight for local businesses that have been struggling to stay afloat—were spared the hike in on-street parking rates—which increased on June 1.

The ID has the most expensive rate at $2.50 per hour in the afternoon, higher than any other neighborhood in the city.

Despite the Seattle Department of Transportation saying that parking prices will remain below prepandemic levels, this feels discriminatory.

The communities in the ID have been historically marginalized and excluded by discriminative laws, such as the Chinese Exclusion Act in 1882 and Japanese incarceration.

ID businesses saw a dramatic drop in business as early as last January, even before the first coronavirus case was documented here. Business owners were fighting not just fear, but anti-Asian sentiment.

Then came last summer’s police protests that spilled into the ID and splinter groups causing more damage, and there’s the ongoing issue of encampments and visitors having to navigate their way through trash, needles, and human waste, if they want to patronize a business here.

We are a vital part of the Seattle community and the City should reconsider the parking rates for our district.

Since the pandemic, we appreciate that SDOT has designated several spots for restaurant and retail curbside pick-up.

Ethan Bergerson, a spokesperson for SDOT, told The Seattle Times that ideally, parking should be expensive enough so that there are one to two open spots on every block, but not so expensive that nearby businesses are hurt.

Businesses in the ID will be hurt. People who want to visit the ID will be turned off by the parking fees— which are higher than all of Seattle.

We need all the help we can get and we urge the City to re-think its policies.

We need thoughtful planning, programs, and budgeting to reduce disparities and achieve equitable outcomes for all populations—especially marginalized populations like the ID. 

A-POP from 7

of people, it’s still very much alive. And while I understand and I love it, I have moved on.”

Instead of coming back to “Grey’s,” Oh is starring in stuff like “The Chair,” an upcoming Netflix comedy series airing Aug. 27. It’s about a Korean American professor who becomes the first woman and person of color appointed to be chair of the English department. And obvs she’s going to deal with some real white shit in her new job, with hilarious aplomb. (That’s not in any synopsis I read, I’m just extrapolating like a wizard who can see into the future.)

About her new work, Oh has this to say about it: “Please come with me to ‘Killing Eve’ and on to ‘The Chair’ and on to the other projects. Come see the characters that I’m playing that are much more deeply integrated in … the Asian American experience.”

You heard her! Go with her!

Why are white people still voicing all the anime? Ingrained societal racism! That’s why!

This might shock you, but did you know that white people are still taking everything? Even stuff that’s originally made by Asians?

IndieWire ran a really interesting interview with Emi Lo, Apphia Yu, and Shawn Gann—three voice actors who work for Funimation, an anime entertainment company who dubs and distributes media from East Asia.

In a few interesting ways, you’d think that voice acting would be a good industry for BIPOC performing artists to get into because in voice acting, the artistry and work is concentrated in the voice, which means there doesn’t need to be racist conversations about an actor’s mainstream appeal or marketability to American audiences.

However, notable animated voice roles nearly always get taken by bigger name white actors, even when the characters are not white.

“As far as we can tell, it’s not moving anymore product,” Yu told IndieWire. “No one went to go see ‘Ponyo’ because Miley Cyrus’ little sister was in it.”

“I have my foot in the door now,” Gann said. “[But] it’s still a hard push to make myself a permanent fixture amongst that group. … You just have to earn that trust and a lot of the time it’s harder for BIPOCs and women to make that leap.”

It’s sad. It sounds like this arena is also rife with the same ol’ BS that permeates just about all other industries.

OMG, can’t believe I’m saying this, but we need to see less of all-around amazing person Dwayne Johnson

Okay, two smart people, Nancy Wang Yuen and Stacy L. Smith, did a study that showed that only 3.4% of Hollywood movies feature an Asian American or Pacific Islander lead over a 13-year span—that’s 44 movies.

And Yuen and Smith said that of those 44 movies, a whopping 14 of them starred Dwayne “The Rock”

Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson Johnson, who is Samoan American and also Black. Fourteen! That’s nearly a third of all the movies!

“There just aren’t enough roles for [Pacific Islanders] and Asian actors in general,” Yuen told NBC News. “And that’s why we see The Rock so many times. We don’t see anyone else, because it’s coming from behind the scenes. It’s the storytellers, the people who are greenlighting the

projects.”

When Yeun says it’s coming from behind the scenes, she means that only 3.5% of directors from the past 13 years were AAPI—and of that, only three were women. Additionally, only 2.5% percent of producers were AAPI and only 3.3% of casting directors were AAPI.

That’s bleak. But also, we can kind of comfort ourselves with the fact that Hollywood movies hemorrhaged money in 2020 because of a pandemic and also because it’s just an old fossil—and that more and more often, young people are grabbing their entertainment and media from social media and smaller streaming outfits, places where we are seeing more diversity in representation. 

Stacy Nguyen can be reached at stacy@nwasianweekly.com.

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BLOG from 5

Use a career counseling service

In Hong Kong, my only summer job was tutoring. I took shorthand classes and learned typing on my own, while thinking about becoming a secretary. The role models around me were housewives, secretaries, teachers, and nurses. There was nothing in my environment inspiring me to dream differently. Although my high school was one of the most prestigious then, there were no careerpreparation classes or counselors to help students chart their future. Anyone in Hong Kong who wanted to have career counseling or study overseas for college had to pay thousands of U.S. dollars for those services. Even now, many Asian countries, including Hong Kong, do not provide career counseling in their education system. American kids have taken these free programs for granted in their high schools. Some never take advantage of career programs. Sad!

There was no one (except my 4th grade teacher) asking us, “What do you want to be when you grow up?” She asked us to write an essay on the topic because the conventional thinking for girls was to get married, not careers. Girls were not perceived as leaders during my youth. Now, girls are doing amazing things to prepare themselves to lead. As leaders, you have to understand the people working for you, including the janitors, plumbers, construction workers, and even garbage workers, to understand a full picture of your organization. How can you motivate them to use their full potential to support your goals? How can you keep your people long-term? If you had done some of those jobs in your early career, those experiences might help you to manage your workforce better.

When the pandemic hit, many businesses shut down and laid off many of their employees. Now, COVID is almost over and businesses are starting to reopen, and Find NWAW on Find NWAW on they don’t have enough workers. One of my business social media on social media on friends lamented that he couldn’t fill his openings. Facebook, TwitterFacebook, Twitter And he blamed the government for giving too much in Instagram!Instagram! unemployment benefits, so people are not keen to return to work. It could be true for some of them, but not all.

Last March, I could have laid off some employees during the pandemic. Half of our advertisers left. I decided to cut down the newspapers’ size instead of laying off people. I hate to say, it did affect our printers, who had to lay off 20% of their staff as other papers eliminated their print version for months.

It’s challenging to face the pandemic, and lose jobs simultaneously. As an employer now, we worked hard to keep our people during the last 15 months. While some businesses now have the headache of finding workers, we are one of the few businesses who don’t have that problem. We have the same team before and after COVID. Our employees are committed to producing newspapers with great content—print and online.

With remote work, my employees enjoy their jobs more than ever with the freedom, flexibility, and time to do what they want. I hate what the pandemic has done to the world, but it does present many of us with unusual gifts under devastating circumstances.

For those of you looking for jobs now, you have a lot more choices and perhaps better pay and benefits. For kids who are over 16 that play all summer, and do nothing, are spoiled. Just playing video games all day isn’t a solution for youth to spend the summer.

Now the pandemic is almost over, young people should look for volunteering opportunities or learn new skills, even if they don’t have a summer job. Cultivate a purpose during the long break and make it fun to achieve your goals. 

Assunta can be reached at assunta@nwasianweekly.com.

#AZNXBLM from 6

taught for seven years, joined Town Hall Seattle as curator and residency program manager, then went to KUOW as a producer.

The #AZNxBLM project started off with funding from a surprising source, to Leong, at least.

“I found out in early February that I was one of 300 people from seven different countries who had been selected by TED (Technology, Entertainment, and Design Conferences) to receive $10,000, no strings attached, as part of their ‘Mystery Experiment.’

“I knew from the start that I wanted to use a significant part of this money to give back to the community, and support values I believe in. Amplifying underrepresented voices is at the heart of all of my work, and I knew that a creative community can always accomplish more than any individual, so developing a project that brought together artists around a shared mission made sense to me... I was determined to use my voice and these resources, to try to make the world a little safer—not just for individuals experiencing fear, discrimination, and racism, but also safer for complex conversations around solidary and equity.”

The project mission statement Leong created reads, “#AZNxBLM is calling for solidarity and collaboration between members and allies of our Asian community and the Black Lives Matter movement. We are pro-community and anti-racist. We believe in the power of art and the insights of outsiders. We are cautiously but fiercely optimistic.”

The finished results gather together artists from all across America, but local faces include writer Mellina White, visual artist Sophia Trinh, mixed media artist Moses Sun, communication designer Tân Nguyen, radio producer Diana Opong, photo essayist B Merikle, and writer/ photographer/editor Shin Yu Pai in collaboration with poet and musician Ibrahim Arsalan.

Asked about the future of such collaborations, Leong elaborated, “My hope is that this first round of 14 #AZNxBLM projects for 2021’s Asian American Pacific Islander Heritage Month, is just one part of the start of a much larger conversation about Asian and Black solidarity. My hope is also that this project ends up supporting not just the #StopAAPIHate and #BlackLivesMatter movements, but also that it serves as an invitation and entry point into active allyship for people who are not part of our API or Black communities.

“I believe in the power of art to bring people together around hard conversations. I also believe that those hard conversations are the first step to taking action.” 

Andrew can be reached at info@nwasianweekly.com.

SOLUTION from SUDOKU on page 4.

■ASTROLOGY

Predictions and advice for the week of June 5–11, 2021

By Sun Lee Chang

Rat—It can be difficult to change gears quickly. If possible, ease in gradually rather than rushing it.

Ox—An old idea has resurfaced, but this time around, you have the resources to turn that concept into reality.

Tiger—Your unsolicited assistance could be perceived as interference. Despite your good intentions, ask first before stepping in.

Rabbit—Even though there are outward similarities, don’t assume that carries over to what lies under the surface. Dragon—A strategic move is not always the best one. There are other considerations that might mean more to you.

Snake—Tempted by the options available to you? A relatively basic one could end up being the most satisfying.

Horse—Are you and your partner approaching the same issue from different angles? Thankfully, it is actually a blessing in disguise.

Goat—Although you are eager to push the conversation forward, avoid interrupting the speaker in order to do so. Monkey—Limited experience could be holding you back. Search out opportunities to learn what you lack.

Rooster—The sweet taste of success can be quite intoxicating. There is a price to pay if you continue on.

Dog—Sorting through the noise to find what matters can be a challenge. Start with listening to your own inner voice.

Pig—With an eye toward the future, focus on the long-term results as opposed to immediate gains.

WHAT’S YOUR ANIMAL SIGN?

RAT 1912, 1924, 1936, 1948, 1960, 1972, 1984, 1996, 2008, 2020 OX 1913, 1925, 1937, 1949, 1961, 1973, 1985, 1997, 2009, 2021 TIGER 1914, 1926, 1938, 1950, 1962, 1974, 1986, 1998, 2010 RABBIT 1915, 1927, 1939, 1951, 1963, 1975, 1987, 1999, 2011 DRAGON 1916, 1928, 1940, 1952, 1964, 1976, 1988, 2000, 2012 SNAKE 1917, 1929, 1941, 1953, 1965, 1977, 1989, 2001, 2013 HORSE 1918, 1930, 1942, 1954, 1966, 1978, 1990, 2002, 2014 GOAT 1919, 1931, 1943, 1955, 1967, 1979, 1991, 2003, 2015 MONKEY 1920, 1932, 1944, 1956, 1968, 1980, 1992, 2004, 2016 ROOSTER 1921, 1933, 1945, 1957, 1969, 1981, 1993, 2005, 2017 DOG 1922, 1934, 1946, 1958, 1970, 1982, 1994, 2006, 2018 PIG 1923, 1935, 1947, 1959, 1971, 1983, 1995, 2007, 2019

*The year ends on the first new moon of the following year. For those born in January and February, please take care when determining your sign.

SPD from 1

the police itself.”

Now, another casualty from that day is Steve Hirjak, then assistant police chief, now demoted to captain.

As cries for police accountability have rung around the country, different narratives have emerged about who precisely was responsible for the escalation of violence. Was it the officer who grabbed the pink umbrella? Was it the lieutenant on the scene who apparently gave the order to disperse the crowd using tear gas and pepper spray? Or was it Hirjak, the incident commander who, according to others, may have been the one ultimately responsible for overall tactics?

The Office of Police Accountability, whose investigators are primarily police officers that rotate in for relatively short-term assignments, dismissed charges against the officer who actually pulled the umbrella. Although the OPA found that the incident apparently triggered the escalation, its investigation determined that because the officer did not presume that his actions would have that effect, he should not be held accountable.

“He told OPA that, based on prior experience at the protests, he did not expect the seizure of the umbrella to provoke the level of crowd response that it did. He further stated that, on several prior occasions, officers under his command were able to seize and, at times, destroy umbrellas without any comparable crowd reaction,” said the report.

Instead, the OPA found the lieutenant on the scene responsible, faulting his decision to disperse a crowd that was on the whole not bent on violence against the police.

But last month, Chief Adrian Diaz chose not to act on its recommendation. (The OPA may issue recommendations, but the SPD is not required to accept them.)

Instead, Diaz chose to demote Hirjak. In an interview with the Asian Weekly, Diaz said he was looking at the totality of the events that happened that weekend, which included the destruction of the ChinatownInternational District.

“We are committed to making sure our CID community is safe, we really hope all our people are engaged in the community.”

Diaz said he was not trying to scapegoat anyone but was responding to nationwide calls for reform.

“This is not about me as a chief, but it’s about a cultural shift, it’s about holding people accountable at the highest level.”

When Hirjak was elevated to assistant chief in late 2018, the Asian American Pacific Island (AAPI) community celebrated him as the first AAPI to reach that level in SPD history. Hirjak’s mother was Korean.

At the time, community leader Frank Irigon wrote an email to then police chief Carmen Best, thanking her and saying that the late community leader Al Sugiyama “is very happy and giving high fives in heaven.”

Contacted by the Asian Weekly, Irigon said he had not been aware of Hirjak’s demotion. But he suggested that in the end, the outcome was due to the outsize influence of the Seattle Police Officers’ Guild (SPOG), which comprises officers and sergeants.

“I was surprised that it happened. My question was why Diaz reversed an OPA decision to hold one officer responsible then put that on Steve’s shoulder. As if Steve was responsible for Capitol Hill and the CID. What about [former Police Chief] Carmen [Best]? Diaz and the rest of the officers? Why was Steve being sacrificed? It’s time for a change. It appears SPOG is still in charge of the SPD,” he said in an email.

Hirjak, in an interview with Asian Weekly, was unable to comment directly on the situation.

“Unfortunately I can’t defend myself because of department policy,” he said.

Several days after being demoted, Hirjak said he attended a function at the African American Community Advisory Council and shared a story about when he first arrived at the academy.

“Some of my classmates said I was just another EEOC [Equal Employment Opportunity Commission] hire, but I had out tested many of them.”.

“There are stereotypes that Asians are more accepting of structure and willing to go along with their role,” Hirjak said. “This does result in treatment I’ve experienced, for instance when someone says, ‘give it to Steve, he’ll do what he’s told, he won’t rock the boat.”

The son of an Air Force meteorologist, Hirjak and his family moved around the country as he grew up, living in Maine, Arizona, Hawaii, Virginia, Las Vegas, L.A., and Atlanta.

When he joined the Air Force himself, he was stationed in Southern California and then in Nevada. He experienced his share of racism, but nowhere was it as bad as in Seattle, he said, despite its reputation for being a progressive city.

“When I was promoted to assistant chief, other departments around the country had had Asian command staff since the 1970s,” he said.

Hirjak described himself as someone who advanced through hard work and being willing to tackle anything. While he was in the Air Force, he applied for early release to join the SPD, but was required to stay because of his skills to help fight computer hackers.

“But I wanted to be a cop. I had a strong sense of wanting to be a protector,” he said.

When his mother died, in Las Vegas, he was both dealing with the aftermath of a major shooting in which a dozen officers were investigated and in the middle of contract negotiations for the city seeking multi-million-dollar data analytics support.

“I was on the team, if something had gone wrong, it would have given grounds to the bidders to file a lawsuit if they didn’t get it.”

Hirjak chose to stay and handle the complex situations rather than go to his mother’s funeral.

In uniform, he has experienced countless incidents of racism, but it has been his experiences out of uniform that have seemed the most appalling.

Standing in line at a Fred Meyer recently, the checkout clerk let three white men simply swipe their credit cards and pass through. But when it came to a Black man, just in front of him, she checked his ID, required he show his credit card, and eyed him with suspicion. Hirjak faced the same treatment.

But his 27 years on the force have left him with a feeling of satisfaction. He was given an award for rescuing a kidnapped mother and child. He arrested murderers, helped stop gang violence on Aurora Avenue, and said he was especially good at finding kids who had run away from home.

“I’ve had a career that no matter what happens, when I’m at the end of my time, I can say I’ve truly helped people.” 

Mahlon can be contacted at info@nwasianweekly.com.

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Oak Tin Family Association building.

Boarded up and awaiting insurance assessment, Deng’s art studio and gallery has been the target of at least three breakins since the fire. Each time, thieves pried open the plywood or broke a lock and took what was left.

Deng spoke of his plight at a May 12 community meeting at Hong Kong Bistro in the Chinatown-International District (CID). The luncheon was sponsored by Hop Sing Tong and organized by a group of CID leaders out of desperation to protect their beloved neighborhood. The meeting united businesses, plus more than 20 fraternal organizations, family and benevolent associations to strategize for a solution. Officers from Seattle Police Department (SPD)’s Alternative Response Team attended and listened to the group’s concerns.

A follow-up meeting at Hop Sing Tong on May 23 was attended by 50 community members.

“We want to show our community that we care. We love our seniors, and we want to do something for them,” said Faye Hong, a senior himself who has spent 65 years doing business in Chinatown. He was also one of the organizers of the meetings.

The new safety patrol will comprise students of the Mak Fai Kung Fu Dragon and Lion Dance Association and volunteers. Four or five patrol members will walk the blocks in Chinatown together. The focus beat is Chinatown center, which includes Fifth Avenue, King, Jackson, and Weller Streets, and up to I-5 every night, every hour from 5 to 9 p.m. Other areas such as Little Saigon and Japantown won’t be patrolled.

Hop Sing Tong is donating 30 green and red “Chinatown Safety Patrol” vests. Not to be confrontational, the patrol will call 911 if appropriate. The pilot project beginning June 1 will test its effectiveness for two to three months.

“[SPD] told us [the victims] to call 911. We used to call and 5 minutes later, somebody would show up. Now, when we call 911, we probably won’t even get anybody. Maybe half an hour later, we might get a case number,” said Hong, who wanted a more immediate response to those in need.

The CID has suffered multiple setbacks that began with the pandemic, continued with the subsequent unrest in downtown that bled into CID, and persisted with the current rise in anti-Asian hate crimes. Many businesses are still boarded up, some permanently closed. With businesses shuttered, there is less pedestrian traffic. Fewer eyes are on the streets.

On Feb. 25, Noriko Nasu and her boyfriend were brutally attacked with a rock-filled sock not far from Deng’s art studio near 7th and King. Despite Nasu being Asian and singled out by the perpetrator, the aggravated assault was not considered a hate crime.

On May 18, SPD arrested a man involved in 14 purse-snatchings between April 8 and May 11, targeting elderly Asian women at Asian markets. Several

Artist Deng Zoulie boards up his studio every night to prevent break-ins.

Photo by Assunta Ng

occurred at Lam’s Seafood Market on King Street, which has since beefed-up security. Most victims, feared for their safety or inhibited by language barrier, waited sometimes too long to report to the police.

“Chinatown is the window to Seattle. It’s not a Chinese city; it’s an American city. Ninety percent of the residents here are Americans,” Deng decried the antiAsian hate in a recent interview with Northwest Asian Weekly. He couldn’t say for sure if his studio fire was fueled by that sentiment. The magnitude of the damage caused him to believe that incendiary was used, besides the few newspapers stacked at the door.

The Seattle Fire Department estimated the damage to be $80,000 and the cause was “undetermined.” The case has been referred to SPD’s Arson and Bomb Squad.

“Thirty minutes later, the whole building would’ve gone up in flames,” said Deng as he pointed to the torn up, blackened ceiling inside his studio.

The unimaginable for the community leaders is a fire in a residential building housing elderly people who lack mobility.

“We’re law-abiding citizens, and we pay our taxes. We shouldn’t be afraid to walk around, and we shouldn’t be afraid that people are going to burn us out,” said Hong.

Tsue Chong, the noodles and fortune cookie factory on 8th Avenue and King Street, escaped serious damage to a fire burning in the back of the building, thanks to quick reactions of witnesses who put it out. But the factory did suffer from several break-ins. So did Vuu’s Beauty School next door, according to Sue-May Eng, secretary of the Chong Wa Benevolent Association and attendee of both meetings.

“We’ve been through this before so we can sense when things are getting bad. We can tell when it’s getting more dangerous,” said Eng.

Eng made it clear that she’s not pointing fingers at the homeless population for the rise in crimes in CID but added, “The history of these encampments in Chinatown is that when they get big, criminals use them to hide their activities. It’s no mystery that inside these large encampments, there’s open air drug dealing, stolen goods hidden, and unauthorized weapons.”

A May 23 Seattle Times Project Homeless article reported that there were 78 people living at an encampment underneath an overpass in CID last year. That encampment may be the one behind Tsue Chong, separated by a wire fence where someone snipped a hole for passage. The article also mentioned a 50% increase in tents in some hot spots since the pandemic. Those hot spots may include some in CID, which has had a long history of encampments.

All agreed the encampments in CID need to be addressed.

Dora Chan, who attended both meetings, considers Chinatown a second home. She helped her family run a friend’s restaurant when she was little. A marketing professional in the tech industry, Dora assists and volunteers with Nora Chan (no relation), the founder of Seniors in Action Foundation. The two handed out personal protection equipment and arranged vaccinations for restaurant workers in CID. In doing so, Dora is in touch with all the owners and workers, and heard many complaints about frequent disturbances at their businesses.

“It hurts me,” Dora lamented on the current state of Chinatown. She’s also sad to see fewer seniors out walking around on a sunny day.

Dora claimed there is a disconnect on messages presented to the Seattle government. A group called Chinatown International District Coalition submitted over 200 signatures to the City of Seattle, calling for the defunding of the police.

“This group doesn’t represent Chinatown,” said Dora. “We want [the police]. We need them. And we want to partner with them together to create a safe environment for visitors, for those elders who live in Chinatown, and for all the business owners in the community.”

The consensus from the two meetings was police defunding correlates with the rise in crimes in CID. The CID leaders

Deng Zuolie brushing soot off of the massive sign that hung in front of his studio.

have started a 600-signature collection effort to send to Mayor Jenny Durkan and the City Council, telling them that “community members in Chinatown, Japantown, and Little Saigon do not support defunding the police.” They are asking city leaders to provide additional police presence in the neighborhoods.

Sgt. Randy Huserik of SPD Public Affairs, responding to an inquiry from the Northwest Asian Weekly, stated, “the greatest impact in the defunding effort is the number of officers leaving the department…SPD is down 200 officers from this time last year.”

According to SPD’s online Crime Dashboard, the data for K3—the beat representing CID in the West Precinct— in 2019 and 2020 are comparable in violent crime and property crime. Numbers from the first five months of 2021 show those crimes are on course to be the same. In arsons, there had been three cases to date already, while there were 5 and 4 cases for all of 2019 and 2020, respectively.

Both Eng and Dora agreed that many crimes go unreported, and the actual number of incidents may be higher. Attention avoidance, language barriers, and time are some of the reasons people don’t go to the police. If it’s minor, most just let it go.

Deng tries to let it go. He said, “I can’t wash my face with tears.”

As he brushed the soot off his studio’s massive mahogany sign, the three carved Chinese characters are barely visible and loosely translated as “House of joy in art/Seattle,” Deng said, “Life is filled with difficulties, the most difficult is to resolve.”

The community leaders hope taking matters in their own hands will help resolve some of the difficulties in the neighborhood to provide a safe and welcoming place for all. 

Becky can be reached at info@nwasianweekly.com.

HOMES from 3

families near transit, jobs, healthcare, education, and cultural amenities in an area where many of the surrounding neighborhoods have been designated as high risk of displacement and high access to opportunity,” said Maiko Winkler‐Chin, Executive Director at SCIDpda.

This development is made possible through a partnership between the Seattle Housing Authority (the landowner and a project funder), Seattle Office of Housing, Seattle Human Services Department, the Department of Commerce’s Early Learning Facilities, and the development team of SCIDpda and Community Roots. Construction financing is provided by Capital One and JPMorgan Chase, and equity is provided by Hudson Housing Capital. 

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