Last year, the Seattle Department of Neighborhoods poured a cool $1,077,003 into community pockets through its Neighborhood Matching Fund Community Partnership Fund. A report from the Seattle Department of Neighborhoods lists 24 lucky community groups that snagged awards averaging $41,597. These groups aren't just taking -- they've pledged nearly as much back ($977,217 to be exact) to match their awards through volunteer sweat, local cash, and in-kind gifts.
In a throwback to more engaged times, the Department of Neighborhoods decided to involve the community in the award process, reinstating the review procedure in 2024. Five community reviewers took the helm to evaluate and recommend this grant. This isn't a flash-in-the-pan initiative either. Over 35 years, the fund has become part of the city’s landscape, bankrolling over 5,000 projects that swear by the spirit of community building and engagement.
Let's run the highlight reel. ADEFUA Cultural Education Workshop and Belltown United are taking home a maximum of $50,000 for cultural festivities and park activations. Black and Tan Project plans to mark Juneteenth next year with a community potluck and a stage show called "Reparations: The Trial of Thomas Jefferson."
Projects like the Refugee Artisan Initiative's Peace Dove Sculpture, aiming to coalesce 1,000 peace-message-feathers with community helping hands, and the Freak Out Festival's push to get Latin American sounds onto Seattle's stages are two standouts. At the grassroots level, Somali Community Services of Seattle is ready to seriously empower youth with a project named GRIT, which promises to arm young folk with the self-care savvy for a violence-free life.
