Community Design Process

Our long-awaited and hard-earned Community Design Process
is about to get started on the Farm! Save the date for Tuesday, June 19 from
5:30 – 8:30. 


In late 2011, the Friends of Rainier Beach Urban Farm and Wetlands was awarded a $50,000 Neighborhood Matching Fund (NMF) grant to steward the community engagement and design process in collaboration with Seattle Tilth and managed by Parks and Rec. This money will be used to hire a Design team, which will work clsoely with the Friends of RBUFW, Seattle Tilth, and Parks to solicit community input and inspire community adoption and ownership of the site. The selected team has demonstrated significant community facilitation experience working within diverse communities and diversity not only of culture and language, but also of user interest and education.

Friends of RBUFW, Seattle Tilth and Seattle Parks and Rec will work with the community and design team to create a flexible infrastructure to support innovative and experimental model programs. Rainier Beach Urban Farm and Wetlands will put Seattle on the map as a leader in visionary urban farming, healthy food access, and urban habitat restoration. The design of the site will educate and inspire a diverse range of community members and visitors.


In the last month alone, over 130 programs have been hosted on-site, over
22,000 starts have been planted, and 200 pounds of produce have been
harvested thanks to interim programming on the site and our friends at Seattle
Tilth.


However, our work is cut out for us: we still have $$$$$ to raise to meet our
community obligation of the Neighborhood Matching Fund (which awarded us $50,000 last November!!!). We have been charged to make the design process as participatory and vibrant as possible and this requires money in addition to the hundreds of hours we committed to volunteering. Please donate as much as you can TODAY to support this critical effort.


Help us meet this important obligation and assure that Rainier Beach Urban
Farm and Wetlands becomes a real asset for everyone in the community.