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InterIm’s Corner: Celebrating community with InterIm CDA

(L-R) Drag and Drop Creative owner Ryan Catabay; Vanishing Seattle founder Cynthia Brothers, Asian Counseling and Referral Service civic engagement program manager Joseph Lachman; and InterIm CDA, equitable development policy analyst (and facilitator) Derek Lum during the panel discussion, titled “Continuing the Legacy of Activism. Photo by Pinky Gupta.

InterIm CDA hosted the second annual fall dinner ‘Connecting with Community’ on October 12th at Joyale Seafood restaurant.

The evening brought together 150 of InterIm CDA’s friends and supporters and we were honored to have the generation of activists who have dedicated their lives for decades fighting for justice and equity for the community, together with our young and upcoming activists who are engaged in fighting for the community.

The program began with a panel discussion titled ‘Continuing the Legacy of Activism’. A panel of three young activists in Seattle, Drag and Drop, owner Ryan Catabaya, Vanishing Seattle, founder Cynthia Brothers, Asian Counseling and Referral Service, civic engagement program manager, Joseph Lachman, and facilitator InterIm CDA, equitable development policy analyst, Derek Lum.

In another session, titled ‘Thriving through the activism’, the staff of InterIm CDA talked about their experiences while working for the community. The event was concluded with activ-ism stories shared by our long-time activists Francisco Irigon, Sharon Maeda, Matt Chan, Leslie Morishita, and State Representative Sharon Tomiko Santos.

State Rep. Sharon Tomiko Santos at the dinner, appreciates the youthful energy of the InterIm CDA staff. Photo by Pinky Gupta.

The stories of heroic activism undertaken by the leaders present in the room together with stories shared by the younger generation of activists provided an opportunity to all present to be ener-gized, engaged and understand that activism lives on and that InterIm CDA will continue to carry on the legacy of our beloved Uncle Bob.

It was a great night of connecting with old and meeting new friends. InterIm CDA will be hosting the Connecting with Community Dinner on October 15th, 2020.We are excited to once again have the honor of bringing together the activists in the community to continue and advance our fight for justice and equality.

InterIm CDA, real estate development director, Leslie Morishita shared her journey of being an activist. Photo by Pinky Gupta.
Francisco Irigon, shared his stories of activism. Photo by Pinky Gupta.

This content was sponosored by InterIm CDA.


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InterIm’s Corner: The power of community organizing

Community building dinner with Hirabayashi Place residents, October 2019. Derek Lum is in top row, second from the left. Photo courtesy of InterIm CDA. 

To help our community stand up to the daunting threats of gentrification and displacement, I, Derek Lum, was brought on as InterIm’s Equitable Development Policy Analyst. My work centers around advancing policies in a way that amplifies the voices and interests of our most vulnerable community members, and those most impacted by the threat of displacement, including low income, limited English speaking, immigrants, refugees, elders, and more.

I work on a variety of fronts including hosting neighborhood forums, facilitating neighborhood issue discussion groups for residents, encouraging residents to show up at gatherings and events related to displacement, challenging city leaders to produce housing and transportation plans which will work for our community, and connecting community members to opportunities to advocate for equitable solutions to neighborhood issues as they see fit.

These days, I’m attending many resident gatherings to build relationships and to understand people’s concerns and challenges to inform my work. Finally, I collaborate with partner organizations and allies to bring city, state, county, and federal solutions to issues impacting low income immigrants and refugee communities. Every aspect of my work is underpinned by the power of community organizing.

The rallying cry, “Humbows Not Hotdogs!” will forever be linked with the struggles of community activists led by InterIm and Bob Santos, fighting against the King Dome and for the future of the International District in the early 1970s.

In those days, the fight was against a new sports stadium and the associated threats of gentrification and displacement. They’d seen how the construction of new sports stadiums had wiped out other poor, inner city ethnic neighborhoods throughout the country. The King Dome was built, but the power of community organizing was ignited and InterIm went on to lead decades of organizing, advocacy, and development, to protect and revitalize the neighborhood, especially on behalf of its low income, elder, immigrant residents and small mom and pop business owners, who built the neighborhood. Thanks in part to our early community activists, the ID continues now as a vibrant cultural community, a real neighborhood, that supports a mix of residents including low income elders and families, and where new immigrants and refugees can find a welcoming first landing place.

Today, with Seattle’s rapid growth and booming economy, the ID’s location next to downtown and the regional transit hub, and lots of development potential resulting from upzones that allow taller buildings, the neighborhood is facing an unprecedented onslaught of large-scale speculative developments. It’s not one big project that we’re facing now, but lots of private individual developments, whose cumulative impacts threaten to wipe out the ID as we know it. These sorts of developments, driven by profit, and not by serving the community, fuel rising property values and rents that in turn push out low income residents, small mom and pop businesses, community organizations and cultural institutions, that are the heart and soul of the neighborhood.

InterIm is not against development, nor are we against market rate development. InterIm evaluates new developments through the lens of equitable development – development that ensures everyone participates in and benefits from the neighborhood’s growth, especially low-income residents, immigrants and refugees, communities of color, and other marginalized groups at risk of being left behind or displaced. InterIm seeks development outcomes that prevent residential, commercial, and cultural displacement; advance economic mobility, security, and opportunity for the community; support and acknowledge local history and culture; promote transportation mobility and connectivity; and enhance health and safety. InterIm seeks development processes that exemplify transparency and accountability to the community; address historic and current racial and social injustice; advance community self-determination; and preserve community dignity and culture.

As I proceed in my new role at InterIm, I welcome the opportunity to meet with those who share our concerns about displacement, and values around equitable development. If you are a low-income renter in the neighborhood, interested in being involved in community organizing, I’d love to hear from you! Feel free to reach out to me at dlum@interimcda.org. See you around the neighborhood!

This content was sponsored by InterIm CDA.


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InterIm’s Corner: A glimpse of work done by InterIm CDA in Chinatown/International District

This is a photo essay of some of the recent work done by InterIm CDA, including through their housing services programming, WILD programming and civic engagement programming. This content was sponsored by InterIm CDA.

King County, Director of Elections, Julie Wise talks about the importance of voter’s registration at the 6th Annual API Candidate Forum at Community Center in the Chinatown International District forum on Wednesday, October 9, 2019. Photo by: InterIm CDA, Community Engagement and Education Coordinator, Ricky Pham.
InterIm CDA, ICHS, Seattle Parks and Recreation, LAM’S and Hau Hau Market together organizes a community kitchen for the residents of Chinatown/International District.  Information on Community Kitchen:  Monthly Community Kitchen is hosted every last Thursday of the month. November will be the last community kitchen for this year until 2020. Photo by: InterIm CDA, Community Engagement and Education Manager, Henry Liu.
InterIm CDA, organized health class for the senior residents in the Chinatown/International District. HuiLing is an instructor for the health class. Information on classes: Health classes will take place 10/14, 11/04, and 11/25 (all Mondays) from 4:45pm – 5:30pm at International House. • Photo by InterIm CDA, Community Engagement, and Education Coordinator, Ricky Pham
Wilderness Inner-city Leadership Development (WILD) youth at the Mt Baker Snoqualmie National Forest, summer 2019 with the US Forest Service. It was an educational trip for the WILD youth to learn about healthy salmon habitat. Photo by: Tribal Liaison for the Mt Baker Snoqualmie National Forest Drew Slaney.
Wilderness Inner-city Leadership Development (WILD) youth with the seniors of the Chinatown International District (CID) distributing the replacement air filters. InterIm CDA partnered with Puget Sound Clean Air Agency to mitigate the poor air quality in the CID. Puget Sound Clean Air Agency and the International District Community Center were key partners in planning for and creating the fans, as well as our community partners InterIm, ICHS, CISC, and SCIDpda. Photo by: InterIm CDA, Community Engagement and Education Manager, Henry Liu.