Mayor Murray announced $250,000 for the Duwamish River Opportunity Fund has been awarded to seven community projects serving neighborhoods along the Duwamish River. This fund provides support to projects that increase the sustainability of the Duwamish River neighborhoods impacted by the Superfund clean-up. The projects will be implemented this year and will continue into 2018.

The 2017 Duwamish River Opportunity Fund Awards

• $43,324 to South Park Information and Resource Center to use community organizing strategies to improve the connection between renters and home owners to existing resources. It will focus on outreach to low-income communities and communities of color.
• $10,220 to Georgetown Open Space Committee to increase capacity and improve work identified in the Next Steps Report. The mission is to preserve and improve neighborhood parks and open space amenities. This will provide seed funding and a starting point for community members to turn the Vision Framework into action.
• $82,759 to Concord International Elementary School PTA to improve the outdoor space and make the entry more communal. The objective is to create an enhanced and open space that will promote gathering.
• $35,124 to South Park Senior Center for improvements to the South Park Neighborhood Center to include new equipment and cosmetic enhancements. This will benefit several non-profit groups who regularly use the center. Once improvements are made, an open house celebration and five community conversations will occur.
• $30,000 to Bricktree LLC to train youth from the Duwamish Valley Youth Corps on strategies for creating green walls in or around homes. The youth will then hold two community workshops to teach neighbors how to build, maintain, and plant their own indoor and outdoor green walls.
• $25,000 to Duwamish Rowing Club to recruit and teach youth living in the Duwamish River valley the sport of rowing. The youth will then race in two rowing regattas in the spring of 2018.
• $23,573 to Georgetown Urban Farm & Forest (GUFF) to educate and train Duwamish Valley youth in its program of increasing fresh food accessibility in the community.

To learn more about the fund, visit seattle.gov/neighborhoods/programs-and-services/duwamish-river-opportunity-fund. For questions, call 206-256-5947 or email drof@seattle.gov.

About the Duwamish River Opportunity Fund

The City of Seattle is working to make the Superfund cleanup of the Duwamish River result in the optimum outcome for the river and its adjacent neighborhoods. In addition to its commitment to the clean-up efforts, the City recognizes that the communities along the Duwamish have many needs. To address some of these, the Duwamish River Opportunity Fund was created in 2014 to enhance existing programs and support new ones. Seattle Department of Neighborhoods manages the fund.