Nehemiah Initiative Seattle: Leveraging Black Churches to Stabilize Communities and Address Racial Inequities in Seattle’s Central District

Seattle has ranked among the country’s fastest growing cities since the mid-1990’s causing gentrification and displacement of vulnerable communities.

For example, African Americans accounted for 73 percent of the Seattle’s Central District (CD) population in 1970 and have fallen to less than 14 percent today. As a result, Black churches in the CD face difficult decisions about whether to stay or relocate.

However, the churches own property and other assets and, working as a network, could mitigate this gentrification and displacement through strategic real-estate development. This vision is advanced by the Nehemiah Initiative Seattle - a collaboration focused on developing the significant real estate assets of Black churches to stabilize and benefit the CD’s African American community. Since 2019, The Nehemiah Initiative has been collaborating with the College of Built Environments at the University of Washington through a series of interdisciplinary design studios focused on this vision. This presentation will provide a brief history of Seattle’s Central District, an overview of the Nehemiah Initiative, and the mutual benefits of collaboration between the academy and community.

Approximately 1 hour. Delivered via webinar or face-to-face presentation. Available sessions shown below.

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