This last Saturday I attended the open house for the new Family Resource Center at Cedar Crossing Affordable Housing, one block north of the Roosevelt Light Rail Station. The resource center is run by Wallingford based FamilyWorks and was created to partially to increase services to families in need and to also give FamilyWorks space to expand the Wallingford Food Bank in the near future.
This new Family Resource Center initially opened in September of 2023, but this open house was about introducing the public to what services they offer, showcasing the facility itself and encouraging donations. When you walk in the front doors you see a large room with lots of natural lighting, bookshelves with children’s books and bins filled with toys. Rehana Lanewala, FamilyWorks Director of Development and Communications, generously gave me a tour when I first arrived. She explained that this entrance room was designed as a play and learn space for both parents and kids, and I could see how inviting it was with a small kitchen space for preparing beverages and snacks.
Since 1995, when FamilyWorks first opened, they have rented space for many of their needs, including the Wallingford Food Bank, and office functions from the building housing Solid Ground. This move of the Family Resource Center has also allowed them to increase the size of their administrative space. One of the highlights is a beautiful wall-sized mural showing a range of community members. Rehana explained that their staff collaborated with a local artist to participate in painting it. By relocating most of their administrative space to the Cedar Crossing site, it will allow them to double the size of the current Wallingford Food Bank. Amongst other improvements, they are looking forward to replacing and expanding their walk-in refrigerators, allowing them to offer a greater variety of fresh food. They are currently working with Wallingford based SHKS Architects and hope to open the expanded facility in 2025.
The new Family Resource Center also includes meeting rooms where they provide parenting classes, a room with free donated toys and children’s clothing and lots of cupboard space for holding donated items from the public, such as packages of new diapers and personal hygiene products. They also have a new space for collaboration between staff and Community Connectors. While I was there, a staff person from the Seattle Public Library was there to discuss the donation of children’s books. My impression is that FamilyWorks, by lowering what they refer to as dignity barriers, and providing as many services as possible in one space, is trying to make it easier for folks in need to obtain services as easily as possible. Outside of Cedar Crossing, they even had a mobile food bank, parked and open for business that day.
Not long after Wallyhood received the invitation to attend this open house, we also received a press release from Family Works announcing that they had recently received a three-million-dollar gift from a local anonymous donor. While at the open house on Saturday, I had a chance to sit down and chat with Marcia Wright-Soika, Family Works Executive Director. She explained that part of the donation will go towards purchasing their facility space from the Bellweather Housing, the non-profit that owns Cedar Crossing. The money that they will save from what would have been rent in the future will go towards addressing wage inequities for their staff members. In addition, some of the gift will be used for creating a Family Resource Center at the planned Sunbreak Affordable Housing Development in the University District. Part of the gift will be used to study the effectiveness of co-locating family service centers at affordable housing communities. Needless to say, both Marcia and Rehana were quite joyful in talking about what this donation will mean for FamilyWorks and the communities they serve. I felt too, that the freshness of a newly constructed office and service area had to help buoy the spirits of staff and clients, alike.