It is a new year, and U District Let’s Go is still going! With the support of our new Outreach Manager, Laura Lee Sturm, we are able to maintain critical core programming from 2018. Laura Lee is a first year Masters of Social Work Student from the University of Washington in the Community-Centered Integrative Practice. She will be focusing the U District Let’s Go work on providing access to transportation for minority-owned businesses and low-income individuals who live and work in the U District.

In the midst of Seattle’s unusual Winter Weather, the first event U District Let’s Go! hosted in 2019 was a Winter Safety Neighborhood event that focused on best practices to navigate our city during the winter months. The event highlighted Winter Safety through the lenses of Safety, Transportation, and Homelessness. Laura Lee said about the event, “I am really interested in working with the U District community to find the intersection between transportation and other needs that the community is identifying. There can be a lot of confusion and stress about travelling and working in the Winter, so I wanted to provide an opportunity for the community to come together to gain access to information about all aspects of navigating Winter in Seattle in one place.” The photograph below shows Marcus Johnson (right), one of the panelists for the event, and two U District Partnership Ambassadors who were available at the event to connect with community members. 

The event featured three panelists, Allison Schwartz with the Vision Zero Initiative through SDOT, Marcus Johnson with the U District Partnership, and Jason McGill with the U District Youth Center with YouthCare. (Seen below, order right to left.)

A huge thank you to all of our additional partners who participated in and supported the event by contributing resources and materials: The U District Food Bank, LIME Bike, UW Transportation Services, Transportation Choices Coalition, King County Public Health, the Utility Discount Program, Crisis Clinic, Hopelink, and the Seattle Public Library.

While the timing for our Winter Safety event could not have been better, it did delay some of our ORCA LIFT Enrollment Events, which we postponed for safety concerns. That means March will be a busy month for ORCA LIFT enrollments! We had our first event on March 4th at the University District Food Bank, where we were able to distribute 25 vouchers for the Regionally Reduced Fare Permit (RRFP), re-load an additional 14 RRFP cards, and register two new individuals for the RRFP program. Additionally, we are thrilled to be a part of the University Branch Public Library’s Job Fair on March 15th, where we will be able to enroll more individuals in ORCA LIFT on-site. We post all of our events in our “Events” link on this webpage as well as on our Facebook Page – check us out!

Our next ORCA LIFT event will be in partnership with Cafe Allegro, and will be on April 2nd from 10am-12pm. Hope to see you there!