About West Hill Community Association

About West Hill Community Association 

The mission of West Hill Community Assocation is to create a more engaged, informed, and vibrant West Hill. West Hill Community Association (WHCA) is a nonprofit organization powered by volunteers elected by the very community it works for: the Unincorporated King County, Washington neighborhoods of Bryn Mawr, Campbell Hill, Earlington, Hilltop, Lakeridge, Panorama View, Skycrest and Skyway (bordered by Renton, Tukwila, Seattle, and Lake Washington) known collectively as “West Hill”.   

Website: http://MyWestHill.org/ 

CREST Representative: Jeannie Williams (she/her) 

 

Why did you join CREST?  

I initially joined CREST as a representative of Skyway to learn more about Community Real Estate Stewardship that could benefit the Skyway community. 

 

If you are working on a project, what is the project, where is it located, and who is it for? What is the vision and purpose of your project? 

Skyway is currently embarking on the vision of a new Community Center and Affordable Housing ventures that King County recently awarded funding. 

 

What are you proud to have accomplished so far related to your project or related to your community stewardship of land efforts?  

King County has invested in Affordable housing for Skyway. 

 

What are the next steps for your organization in realizing your project vision?  

Things are in a pre-development, planning and organization phase, 

 

What support and expertise are you looking for? We are in early/beginning phases so....Local Black or POC Development partners, Architect, Fundraising support, etc.

TraeAnna Holiday, CREST cohort member from Africatown Seattle:

"I am so honored to be a part of what Puget Sound Sage is doing in this city. They brought together 20 organizations who may not have known each other, and together we are taking progressive models that are happening across the nation to reform and develop our spaces, have ownership in our spaces, create and rebuild our communities, and reclaim what has been taken from us. I represent Africatown Seattle, and if you know of what the Central District has gone through - it has suffered a great deal of gentrification, inequity and displacement. Africatown is working hard on the ground to develop buildings that are bringing our communities back.

For me, this is very personal. My family was displaced in 2003 and my parents had to buy a home in Federal Way. I have never known of Federal Way before. I grew up in the Central area, and it was all I knew for my whole life. It was so heartbreaking to my mother for us to have to move. We are one family, but displacement has affected so many more. This is why I’m so excited to be a part of this cohort. With the work of Puget Sound Sage, I am learning more on how to do this in a progressive way, ensure that we keep affordability for our communities and for our people, and to come back to spaces that we grew up in that we know and love.”