The Recreating Henderson Street project started in 2023 in partnership with Link2Lake and RBAC. In year one, the Recreating Henderson Team gathered community input on what the community liked about Henderson Street and what improvements they would want to see along the Henderson Corridor. We analyzed the data, and you can find our findings in the Henderson Report here. We also had our first committee meeting in year one. The committee consists of community members and stakeholders who want to participate in supporting this project. A huge shout out to Shannon, Mr. Davis, Judy, Messiah, Jack, Jeremiah, and Tyree, who put a lot of love and energy into making year one successful. Another thanks to our Youth Engagement Workers, who were responsible for collecting a majority of the surveys. Also, a big thanks to our fiscal sponsor, Seattle Parks Foundation, and the RCO grant for making this project possible.

We are now in year two of this project. RBAC has taken on the project management for Recreating Henderson Street. We are now working with an Environmental Works design team who will take the ideas they have heard from us and the community and turn them into tangible ideas. We had our second committee meeting on Jan 29th. This is the meeting where the committee was introduced to the design team for the first time. Committee members also chose what subcommittee they would like to participate in. So now we have dedicated groups of people to focus on outreach: Rainier Beach Students and Youth, Arts, Culture, History, Transportation, Housing, and Small Business. During this meeting, each group got to do a breakout session, get to know each other, and share some of their ideas with the larger group. We are looking forward to seeing more of the amazing ideas the committee produces during the coming months.

The goal at the end of this year is to have a Street Concept Design Plan that we can take to the city and hopefully make our dreams for Henderson turn into a reality. We want this plan to be shaped by people who live, work, and play in Rainier Beach. So, keep your eye out for our larger public meetings or events where we will be gathering community input. If you want to join the committee, email hummingbirdconsultingservices@gmail.com or judy@rbactioncoalition.org.  

Best,
Makayla Miles

Related Posts