CityClub’s 2009 Community Matters Campaign (CMC) focused on education and economic opportunity – two issues of particular urgency in our community today. In partnership with The Seattle Foundation, we hosted public dialogues grounded in the findings of the Foundation’s newly released Healthy Community Report www.seattlefoundation.org. Over the course of CMC, we convened hundreds of participants – both online and face-to-face – to discuss what we can and need to do individually and communally to overcome barriers and achieve positive results. We invited participants to vote for their top-priority community investment to make educational and economic opportunities available for everyone in King County. They responded 2-1 in favor of the following two strategies outlined in the Healthy Community Report:
- Involve families and communities in student achievement and aspirations
- Increase support for high-quality public schools
The CMC Steering Committee – made up of representatives from CityClub, Communities Count, Executive Service Corps, The Seattle Foundation, Seattle Works, The United Way of King County, and the YMCA of Greater Seattle – chose 6 winners based on these two strategies. Our winner selection demonstrates the ecology of community engagement needed to make a difference. The 2010 People’s Choice Awardees represent a spectrum of organization format, scale and focus. One is a recently emerged organic and quickly changing organization formed by and for youth. Another unites youth and parents. Others bring diverse community sectors together to foster change and opportunity. Still others work on the systemic level through policy development and advocacy. It’s together – across these various modes of organization and action – that change can be created and sustained in our community.
We invite you to join us in celebrating the diverse and dynamic organizations that make up the 2009 People’s Choice Award winners on the evening of November 16 from 6-8pm at City Hall in Seattle. For more information visit www.seattlecityclub.org
4C Coalition – 4C is an acronym for Clergy, Community, and Children/Youth Coalition. In partnership with King County Superior Court, 4C provides mentors to young persons involved in the juvenile justice system. The 4C Coalition is not a program to solve a problem, but a process to provide possibilities: mentors to youth, church and community resources to families, and a united voice to the community and government agencies to educate and effectively address youth issues.