People of Kent highlights and lifts the voices of our diverse community members who make Kent an incredible place to live and work. 

Meet Rachel Friedland,

“Kent has never been just one thing. It’s been a thousand different people, with a thousand different stories. That’s what makes it worth remembering.”

Rachel Friedland is a public historian, educator, and the author of Images of America: Kent, the first book to visually preserve Kent’s layered history through archival photographs and community stories.

She didn’t plan on becoming a local historian. But growing up in a family of educators and history lovers, she developed a deep respect for the past early on. After years of volunteering at the Greater Kent Historical Society, she realized something was missing. Kent, despite its rich and complex history, didn’t have its own book in the Images of America series.

“I thought, ‘If no one else is going to do it, I will.’ A few months later, I had a contract.”

What started as curiosity quickly turned into a full-time passion project. Rachel dove into research at the Kent Historical Museum, spending hours poring over archives, photos, and oral histories. She read everything she could, filling notebooks with facts, timelines, and untold stories. But the real challenge wasn’t what to include. It was what couldn’t be included.

“The book had to tell Kent’s story through photographs. So if there wasn’t an image, I couldn’t include it, even if it was important. That was the hardest part.”

Still, what she uncovered was powerful. Through photos of bustling parades, immigrant families, and quiet farmland, Rachel began to assemble a story that too few people knew.

One of the most striking discoveries was how deeply Japanese internment affected Kent’s agricultural roots. Before World War II, much of the fertile Green River Valley was worked and owned by Japanese American families. That ended abruptly in 1942.

One image, in particular, has stuck with her ever since she found it.

“It’s a photo of two little girls holding a sign that says, ‘Mr. President, we invite you to the Lettuce Festival.’”

Rachel wanted to highlight both the familiar and the forgotten. From the iconic Lettuce Festival to the working-class neighborhoods built by immigrants and farmers, the book reflects a city constantly in motion, shaped by migration, labor, and resilience.

“Kent was built by movement. By people coming and going. It’s not supposed to be just one thing, and it never has been.”

While her book preserves images from the past, Rachel is equally focused on how communities preserve stories in the present. She encourages residents to donate photographs to local museums, record family memories, and ask questions about the people and places that shaped their neighborhoods.

“History isn’t something that lives in textbooks. It lives in us. In our stories. And we are making history every day, whether we mean to or not.”

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Meet Oleg Pynda,

He came to the country as a refugee, and now he leads the community as a voice for immigrants and refugees in the City of Kent and across Washington state; Oleg Pynda is the Executive Director of the Ukrainian Community Center of Washington.

Oleg grew up in the former Soviet Union, where he faced religious persecution. In 1992, he arrived in Kent with his wife and two children as refugees. Where he has been happily living up till now and is a proud Kent resident.

Back home, he held a master’s degree in engineering and had worked on military aircraft. Despite facing struggles like limited connections and a strong accent, and with his resumes going unanswered, Oleg began helping fellow refugees in the City of Kent and beyond who spoke little or no English. He translated at churches and helped immigrant families through housing, healthcare, and school systems, and connected them to resources.

By 1998, this volunteer work solidified with the foundation of the Ukrainian Community Center of Washington. What began as a support network for Eastern European refugees soon expanded to serve newcomers from Somalia, Afghanistan, Iraq, and others.

Oleg recalls the challenges refugees face: “When you arrive, your first worries are survival, where to live, and how to work. Only after that do the deeper wounds appear, the trauma, the mental health struggles. Many have seen war, loss, and displacement. We must help with both the practical and the emotional.”

Under his leadership, the center grew its mental health programs and now provides services in multiple languages, including Ukrainian and Russian. With a heavy heart, he shares the story of Ukrainian children visiting the U.S. who panicked at the sound of jets at the Boeing Flight Museum, mistaking them for air raids, a reminder of the trauma and scars that wars leave behind.

Today, Washington is one of the top states for refugee resettlement, with more than 30,000 new arrivals in the last three years. Oleg expresses gratitude for state and local support.

Oleg’s service extends beyond the center. He has been deeply involved in the community here at the City of Kent for over 30 years, serving on Kent’s Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion Board, advising mayors, and advocating for immigrant voices, ensuring they are heard.

His message to Ukrainians and the Kent community is clear: “Recognize you are in a free country. Don’t be afraid to raise your voice. Get naturalized. Vote. If you see something that needs to be changed, speak up. Your voice matters.”

For Oleg, success has never been about titles or financial gain. From working in construction to becoming a licensed mental health counselor and accredited immigration service provider, his path has always been guided by service. “This is a land of opportunity,” he says, “Don’t be afraid to seize it. My life shifted from engineering to social service to mental health, and I love it. Gratitude, not money, is the greatest return.”

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 Meet Matt Roark,

A community leader and founder of We Love Kent, a nonprofit rooted in faith, service and unity.

He received the Kent Legacy Award from Mayor Dana Ralph during her 2025 State of the City Event earlier this year.

Matt lived in the city for six years and remains deeply connected to the community with his wife and three young children.

He leads with purpose and compassion.

In 2020, at the peak of the COVID-19 pandemic, Matt felt a calling to serve, leading to the beginning of We Love Kent, an initiative focused on helping people in times of crisis. As schools closed and people were getting shut out of jobs, Matt stepped up to mobilize food relief with the help of nonprofits, churches, and the City of Kent.

“God just laid it on my heart to start it,” Matt says.

Operating out of the accesso ShoWare Center and distributing over 60–70 million pounds of food, hand sanitizer, and fresh produce, Matt and his team built a vast network of support. They partnered with groups like Rotary, Communities in Schools, and Apartment Life.

Today, Matt continues to be an advocate for the power of mutual aid and community engagement. We Love Kent now sponsors events like 4th of July celebrations, movies in the park, and neighborhood clean-ups.

He is excited about the recent launch of CarePortal in the South Puget Sound Region. An app-based service that’s connecting people to meet the needs of kids and families in crisis. Monitored by vetting agencies like DSHS or the city government, the police department, or the school district, the portal ensures the help reaches the right hands.

“My mind is always on volunteering, community, making sure that Kent is a good place to live.” Matt says

He also serves as a youth leader at his church and is passionate about forming lasting connections at the neighborhood level. He believes “Adopt a Block” and “Adopt a School” programs are great ways for churches and nonprofits to directly support local students and families with tutoring, coat drives, and after-school activities.

“It’s not about preaching, it’s about partnering,” he says.

Through his leadership, Matt encourages everyone to get to know their neighbors, serve where they can, and lead with love. He believes, if you don't know your neighborhood, then what are you doing? It starts there; it starts simple.

“Find the good in your city and add to it,” Matt says. “Even in darkness, we can find the light and there are blossoms of hope.”

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 Meet Malinda and Cam,

Long time Kent residents and active members of the community. They love supporting and highlighting the Kent art scene.

Cam: “My name is Cam Kristensen and I'm the Assistant General Manager for Northland Services. We ship to Alaska and Hawaii.”

Malinda: “I'm Melinda Besett and I am a substitute teacher in the Kent School District, and I own Crème Brulée kids consignment sale.

Cam: We offer an opportunity for the community with the kids consignment sale. It helps people in the City of Kent recycle their used clothing and so not only is it helping reduce waste but it's also putting some money in their pocket and then at the same time it's helping out other families so that they can get a pre-loved items at reasonable prices.

Cam: I sit on the Kent's Arts Commission. I also volunteer for several different things. We have an art gallery that's closing here shortly were we used to do kid free kids art day. I volunteered as a soccer coach for several teams. I like participating in the City of Kent.

The Art’s Commission does a variety of things. We have the spotlight series which is typically done at the auditorium at Kent Meridian high school but that's music that comes in. They have several different groups that come in at different year times of the year.

We also do the traffic signal box artwork. There's a real correlation between vandalism and non-vandalism if they're decorated. The ones that have artwork on them tend not to get tagged up. Also, when community members need funds for their art related projects, whether it's a concert or things of that nature, they can apply to us and we, on a grant basis, try to help them out with some money.”

Malinda: “I grew up in Kent. I went to East Hill Elementary School graduated from Kent Meridian so growing up I was actively involved in the community. I went through many programs with Kent Parks and Rec. Downtown Kent was like my playground. Its good, just being out in the community and knowing it's fun. Our daughter, who is in middle school, is always like ‘mom you know so many people’ and that's because we're out in the community. We're out participating in events and making those connections.”

Cam: “I grew up in Nome, Alaska it’s a very very small town of around 3,000 people. There community was a big part of everything. You depended on other people all the time, so I was volunteering as I grew up and to me I think it's important because it really makes a big difference in a lot of people's lives. In a place like Nome, it's really evident. It might not be as evident here just because of the population but I think that there's a lot of parallels.”

Malinda: “I previously sat on the promotions committee of the Kent downtown partnership and was working on providing events whether free or paid to bring community members together in historic downtown Kent.

I think one of the biggest ones that I'm proud to say that we were very involved in was the Street of Treats which happens every October and that is bringing kids and families to downtown to support each other with different organizations and businesses through that event.

We're the current owners of Rusty Raven studio but we are closing our storefront. We still plan on staying actively involved in the community. Previously before owning our storefront, we were vendors at the Kent farmers market for many years. It was just becoming too much for us to do those events with our young children at the time. Through the storefront we were able to bring in over 60+ artists, makers, and collectors into our store for like kind of a one-stop shop. We could support artists and we could support community members being able to shop small.

When we had the shop, we offered a free kids art day every month. We provided an opportunity for art and creative time for young children and older children. Many artists don't get the opportunity to show artwork because they're either having to pay or they're either having to submit applications and get juried. I mean we were jurying but we weren't it wasn't a hard jury.”

Cam: “If somebody came in and they made robots or jewelry and they didn't think it was good enough and it's like ‘oh man these are great you know bring them in.’ We encouraged a lot of people in this community to bring their stuff in and show their stuff there. The free kids art day in a four hour period we typically had close to a hundred kids come through.

We did a couple workshops for Green River Community College for the art docent program. It was on some things that they could then take to the classroom to teach the kids. The shop was a good venue for a lot of different things in the community.”

Malinda: “We did a lot of things pre-COVID. We used to spotlight different artists once a month through the Thursday Art Walk. We tried to make connections through our members. Whether it was musical or other artists if they had ties to Kent, we liked bringing them back.

So, like if they graduated from a Kent school or went to elementary school or went to a junior high here, I'm bringing them back into the community to highlight them and show people like ‘hey this is a former graduate from the Kent school district’ and showing what they what they're doing now.

I think one of our goals for the future is to bring back free kids art day whether it's monthly, quarterly, or once or twice a year, I mean it's helping build that next generation of artists and creators.”

Cam: “Kent's such a diverse community, I really enjoy that because I grew up in a fairly diverse community. I think it's important to get all those people involved. When you have people coming together to do art and do things like that it breaks down a lot of the boundaries that people put on each other and so I think fostering that is a is a good way to make things a lot better.”

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 Meet Yusuf,

"I’ve run a non-profit called Falis Community Services since 2015. I came to Kent in 2004 as a refugee from Kenya—I was born in Somali but grew up in Kenya. I have done full-time work with King County since 2008. I’ve worked for them about 16 years now, still working there. I have my family here with five kids. The first one is graduating from Western Washington this year.

When I come to you as a refugee, I wasn't speaking good English at that time. I don't speak good English still, but it was worse at the time. We were struggling at every corner. Financial literacy, legal things. Even getting the benefits we deserve, getting the resources, all that stuff.

I was determined to create an organization since I used to work with the agency called the Ludren World Federation in Kenya as a social worker. So, a lot of people knew me back home helping others with domestic violence and other stuff. This took me to the next level when I came here. People were coming to me for help, and that put me into a category where I had to start this organization to help people so that they don't go through what I went through.

Currently, I help the community, especially youth; high school dropouts, drugs, and staying off the streets. We’re helping the youth to get the highest potential they can and stay off of the street, you know, homework and other things. we're also changing some policies around the education to help them understand how the school system work. We work with the parents about that. We are not limited to that. We also help with the rental assistance, utility assistance, citizenship classes. So many things.

I have a website Falis Community Services People can check it out there, what we do.

I don't want to take whole credit myself because the way things started, I was just helping people. I like helping people. That's actually who I am.  I was a sports player. A lot of people knew me back home playing soccer. I was a big player and people knew me from that. I like team play. That's the way I am. I like people around me to understand what I understand.  I like to share when I have information or resources. So that was me, and when I came here, what helped me the most was, my kids were going to school here, five of them in the Kent School District. So, there was a lot of things I didn’t understanding at the time. That led me to start volunteering at the schools.

I volunteered with a program called PASA, which stands for Parent Academy for Student Achievement. So, I was facilitating that for three years and where the balance is I had to understand the way the school system works. So that led me to volunteer at Kent City.

I have lived in Kent for all my life in the US. I learned this very recently. Kent is one of the top 10 most diverse cities in the United States. So, what I hope is one thing. I know a lot of people who their ancestors came here or maybe were born and grow up here. There is some kind of misunderstanding between the two lines, you are immigrant or refugee come to United States recently or your ancestors came here a long time back.

One thing I want people to understand is people who came here, they come with hope. I'm not saying all of them are good people. I'm not saying all the people here are good people. But they come with hope, the hope which is that they will get a better life.

People who live here, they need to understand that. Like for example, someone like me, if you tell me now ‘go back to your country.’ which country would I go back? I don't even know. I’ve gone back one time to see my mom who wasn't feeling well. And I didn't even know where to go. I didn't even know where my home used to be. Everything changed. I have been here over 20 years. I don't even know the original area where I grew up. I don't even know the city. I changed; I became an American. I have citizenship. I pay taxes. I bought a house. I live here. I'm living the American dream. I want my kids to live this life. That's the reason why I came. So, if you tell me, go back, there is no way. I don't even have anywhere to go back to.

So, people have to understand that people came here with hope. And they came here to stay. They are part of you now. So, if they're doing something wrong, you just have to talk. Everything has to be a discussed.

I get more people now. I used to serve only my community. Now I serve the Afghanistan community. I serve the Indian community, which I speak the language. And then I serve other Somalis, and all East African communities, which includes Uganda, Tanzania, Kenya, Somalia, and Sudan. So those all come to my organization, and they're all invited. So now it's getting bigger. The bigger you get; the needs also get bigger. But believe me, from the beginning, there has been a lot of progress which you could actually touch, prove it. I know like 100 families who their kids are either going to college or are planning to go to college.

So, it is something you could touch, It's not ending. The more we get into it, the more people coming from outside the country now as a refugee or immigrant, and then they will need more help. So, it's like the help and our work is still going. The progress is unbelievable."

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 Meet Brian,

"I'm just trying to be there, be a support, and make every person I encounter the best that they can be. That's really been my philosophy my entire career. I try to find the positive in every individual I talk to, meet, or work with. That's on all different levels, from a five-year-old to an adult. I am a servant leader that has always been driven by kids and the best interests of our community.

I grew up in the Puyallup Valley, went to Fife High School, graduated from Eastern Washington University, and began teaching science at Peninsula High School shortly after. Interestingly enough, I did everything I could in college not to be a teacher. That's because my dad was a principal and a long-time teacher that invested an incredible amount of time and energy into those he served. I was just like, 'No, I'm not going to do that.’ because of course I wanted make more money at that time. But it seemed like every road led me back to this profession, and now my dad has become my number one inspiration. I watched him work with many people in diverse populations of Tacoma. His favorite school that he worked at was right on Hilltop. The stories he would come home with and the successes I witnessed really drove me to where I'm at now. He had a tremendous influence on so many people.

After teaching at Peninsula, I eventually transitioned far north all the way up to Nooksack Valley High School in Whatcom County. After a few years, I moved to the Bellingham area and taught at Bellingham High School. This is when I transitioned into athletic and activity administration. I was a long-time coach. I coached for 15 years in multiple sports. I was also a leadership teacher, and those two things kind of combined to help me grow into the position I have now. After ten years of working as the Assistant Executive Director at the WIAA, I wanted to get closer to kids and help lead a big district. I wanted to share some of my thoughts, beliefs, and philosophies. So, fortunate enough, I ended up in Kent. Here we are today, post-COVID, and really starting to get things going. This is year four for me at the Kent School District.

As an administrator in the Kent School District, I serve an extremely diverse population. I see myself as someone that is the ultimate encourager of kids to participate. What you see of me is kind of like an iceberg. Much of what I do is underwater, and there's the little tip you might see of me occasionally, but what I'm really trying to do is give each of my school athletic directors, coaches, and students every capability possible. I want to give students the necessary tools to help them be successful in whatever their passion may be. That includes looking at new programs, new sports, encouraging participation, and encouraging growth in any way that we can.

Basically, what I've been doing for 31 years is trying to get kids involved with school programs. I know what participating in clubs, activities, sports, putting on a school uniform, and just being part of something that's bigger than themselves can do for them. We know through national studies and even studies here in Kent that kids that are involved stay in school. They come to school every day. They do better in testing. They have higher GPAs. The benefits are truly amazing. So, for me, as a promoter of that, that's a message that needs to get out to everybody. We have a large population of people that are new to the American system of schooling, so sports are like, 'Wait, we have sports in schools? Why would I want my kids to be involved with that? Why would I want my daughter to join a soccer team?' A lot of what my team does is educate and teach people why it is important. Involvement in school also includes activity offerings as well. It could be just being part of the chess club, debate, dance, cheer, etc. There's this huge umbrella that covers athletics and activities that we want every kid to be under. It's an important part of our system in Kent. It's involvement.

I love the eagerness of this community for growth. When I say that, it's not just for their kids but for our schools and our community overall. There's an eagerness to see all things get better. And it seems like every meeting I'm in, that's what I hear is, 'How can we take Kent to the next level?' I love that. I mean, I'm always like, 'Okay, how can I help?' I am not much for the complaining side of things. I want to see where the goals are and what the possible solutions are. That's a big part of what I see in Kent. It's hard not to include the great people of Kent. We have people that have a hundred years of history here, to people that have just arrived. Both groups bring so much to this community, and I value that immensely."

Brian spoke on Kent Youth and Family Services as well. He wanted to give them credit for their great contribution to the growth mindset of the community: 

"I want to tell you why I have an interest in Kent Youth and Family Services. A lot of people are like, 'Why let the director of athletics and activities be concerned about that type of organization?' Kent Youth and Family Services is a community-based nonprofit that gives so much to the greater Kent area. Their impact is broad but specifically their efforts in early childhood education make a tremendous impact on the school community. School readiness has been shown to save schools and communities substantial money by reducing the need for additional programming for unfinished learning, behavior issues, substance use, and other issues associated with students that have struggles in school. I want to give my energy to something that I know is not only going to help our kids, our parents, and the community but also help our schools keep moving kids forward to where they should be. It is such an amazing group to be a part of.

My drive is that I'm always looking to make this place better than when I found it. After four years here, I'm starting to see a lot of those checkboxes being marked. But some of the things that need to happen in Kent is that continued vision of growth and what's next for our kids and our community. We need more visionaries like that talking and working together. I encourage people to get involved in their schools, with their kids, their teachers, and the community. It makes a difference."

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 Meet Alex and Clara,

After their older sister Starla passed away, Alex and Clara wanted to continue their sister's journey in bringing awareness to FASD (Fetal Alcohol Spectrum Disorder).

"Our biological mom is a drug addict and alcoholic. She brought our older sister and us to our mom, who is her aunt, when we were one year old. After she disappeared for a month, my mom took her to court to get custody of us. The courts gave her custody, and we have been here ever since. She adopted us last year, and now we are officially O'Keeffe's. We have 11 brothers and sisters. Our biological brother and sister live with our grandma in Minnesota, where we were born.

We have FASD, an invisible brain injury caused by alcohol exposure in the womb. We had our first diagnosis at age 2. Our brain damage is permanent and impacts our learning, behavior, and understanding of some things. We often have trouble with organization, math, writing, and following the rules. Some days we have trouble with everything. This is very common for people with a FASD diagnosis. School is very hard for us. The teachers never seemed to know how to help us. After Covid, my mom just kept us home and is homeschooling us now. It is still hard, and we still have trouble focusing and not getting upset, but we like home school better than public school. We learn at our own pace and get to do cool field trips like visiting the Kent Museum or going to the cultural days, which we really love. Even though we have FASD and advocate for it often, we are still regular kids. I (Alex) love to do origami, and Clara loves to look at maps. We are learning how to swim. It is kind of scary. We love to ride our bikes and go on walks. We are both in scouts. I (Alex) am a boy scout, and Clara is a girl scout.

Our mom says it is important for us to learn strategies to help us calm our brains and what to do when we get stuck thinking or have trouble learning. Ever since we were little, we have known we have FASD and have had lots of therapies and counseling. We also use our community resources and have been in dance since we were 4. Our older sister Starla was more affected by alcohol and really struggled in school. She was the brightest and most loving kid I've ever known. She was an advocate for FASD. She wanted to make sure others understood what FASD was and how it affected kids and families. When she died, we decided to continue her journey. We miss her very much. We always say if you see a bright star in the night sky, you know that it's Starla.

We can't fight FASD on our own. 1 in 20 kids have FASD, but the number of undiagnosed FASD cases is rising. FASD is more common than autism and Down Syndrome combined. We also need the public to actually understand and want to help. If people keep on drinking and drinking when they're pregnant, more kids are going to get FASD. Many of those kids end up in foster care.

If we can help others and understand their struggle, then maybe we can help another child who is struggling. We need schools and therapists to become FASD informed so they can know how to best work with us and help us. And that's also one of the things we want to advocate for is KSD (Kent School District) having more FASD awareness. We do not want to see more kids growing up on the streets or having trouble with the law, becoming alcoholics and drug addicts."

Alex and Clara spoke on the talents that a lot of kids with FASD share. Despite their struggles, FASD children thrive in the creative space:

"People with FASD are musical. They're very talented with drawing, music, and different creative activities. We're really happy that Kent has a good selection of music programs. We really like doing music with our teacher. I (Alex) use music to calm myself down. I even make my own songs on paper with my ukulele and keyboard. I (Clara) take violin lessons and play a little bit of piano. We have a lot of fun at Kent Commons too, because you can do a lot of dancing there.

The troubles of people with FASD are very hard to deal with. It's hard for people to understand that when we are struggling with certain behavior. It's not that we can control it and choose not to. It's that we literally cannot control it. That's just FASD. Clara and I are very lucky that we're not as affected as our sister Starla was. Otherwise, we wouldn't have been able to really understand what's going on. She would have never been able to live independently and would have needed someone to help her every day. We have great support from our family, who continue to learn how to best help us, and that's all we want from the community all together. We hope to grow up and do great things."

Alex and Clara are consistently looking for ways to advance their advocacy and public awareness for FASD. They are both advocates through FASD United, and the Stars for Starla Youth Recognition Awards that were established in honor of their sister. The siblings are active in their own community as well, and on July 18, they will address the Kent City Council with a speech in addition to Mayor Dana Ralph's proclamation, honoring and supporting people with FASD.

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 Meet Dr. Yoshiko Harden,

From island life to college leadership, read more about Dr. Yoshiko Harden, who is the first woman of color to serve as the president at Renton Technical College.

“I was born in Seattle, but later my family moved to the island of Oahu in Hawaii. I was raised in Hawaii until high school. I attended Nathan Hale and then Garfield High School. It was a big cultural change for me, coming from growing up on an island, where although it’s very multicultural and multiracial, there weren’t a lot of black people.

Growing up, my parents always encouraged me to go to college. My dad went to the military and then went to college. My mom went when she was 40, when we were living in Hawaii. She started at a community college, and I really saw how that changed her life. She was a young mom and young wife. So, it wasn’t until I was around 13, until she had time to go to college. I watched her navigate the financial aid process and watched her figure out how to go to school full-time. My parents always instilled education in me.

I started at the University of Washington in fall of 1988 after graduating high school, and although I knew I was going to college, I didn’t really know what else went into the process like financial aid and things like that. I started there, and it wasn’t a good fit for me. My first class was Psychology 100 in Kane Hall and I think there were 800 students there. I think I would have been a student that would have been a great fit for a community or technical college- smaller, and not so overwhelming.

I don’t think I was the only black student, but I felt that way. I felt like no one looked like me or no one was speaking to my experience. The classes I did well in were the classes that I liked, and ones where I was able to connect with the professors.

I went a year and then I dropped out a year. I decided to start working, and I got a full-time job at Group Health, which is now called Kaiser. I went back to the University of Washington in 1990 and flunked out again. At this time, my mom and stepdad were living in San Diego. My stepdad was a professor at UC San Diego and told me I should come down there to get out the environment. So, I ended up doing my undergraduate work at the University of California San Diego in Communications and Women Studies. That’s when I really started to see myself as a college student. I realized that college is about persistence. You need the right support. Everyone’s smart and has different skills and abilities. We’re wired to learn.

In 1998, I moved back to Seattle, and I started graduate school a little later at Seattle University in their college of education. When I was at UC San Diego, I had jobs like working summer bridge. I realized that there’s jobs at a college or university that aren’t faculty. There was this black woman who was a dean that worked there, and I didn’t know her very well, but I always saw her working with students and advising the black student union. I didn’t know if I wanted to be a professor, but I knew I liked working at a college. Later, I got my master’s degree in student development, and I started working at Highline College when I graduated. I’ve been a Kent residence since 2010. My husband and I decided to live in Kent, because it was a good midpoint for work and our kids.

I’ve worked at four community and technical colleges- Highline, Bellevue, Seattle Central, and I started working at Renton Technical College (RTC) on July 1st, 2023. I worked at Bellevue College as their Vice President of Diversity, and at Seattle Central as their Vice President for student services and spent the last year as interim president. I always knew I wanted to work with first generation college students and communities of color. My mission was and still is to create and co-create the college experience I always wanted but never really got. 

As a black woman, I wanted to feel a sense of belonging and feel like I was part of a community. I got it in pockets, but not the full experience. That is what has been the driving force for me. 

I’m the first woman and person of color to serve as a president at RTC, and it’s an incredible feeling. I worked in education for a long time and most of the presidents of color have been hired in the last 10 years. I’ve been in the system about 20 something years. I’m not from a wealthy or very privileged background. My grandmother on my dad’s side were denied access to education at third and fourth grade and worked at sharecroppers in Georgia. My grandmother could have been a nurse or doctor, because a lot of people relied on her since she knew so much, but she was denied education. That’s what institutional racism is, combined with sexism and patriarchy. 

I want people to remember me for making a difference in education and service to or community. I want folks who come to RTC to pursue their degree or credentials, feel a sense of belonging and support. I want them to complete whatever the thing is they wanted to do here, whether that be English language courses, or short-term certificates, or a longer degree. The median age at RTC is around 28 or 29. Many students come directly from high school, but most of our students find RTC after some time has passed and bring their that have lived experiences. Maybe they’ve had some careers or worked some jobs and majority of them are parents. What I love about community and technical colleges is that it’s never too late if you want to access any type of education. We have students who are 16 all the way to students in their 60’s and older. Its daunting to start college at any time in life, but it’s about persistence.

I love working at a technical college, because so many of the student stories are my story and I think it’s great when faculty, staff, and administrators can be vulnerable and share our story because I think its importable to be relatable to students.

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 Meet Gwen,

Gwen is the Executive Director for the Kent Black Action Commission. She encourages others to join and participate in community events and programs. Read more about her story below.

"I was born and raised in Florida. I moved to Washington in 1972 and got my first job that July on Mercer Island. Mercer Island didn’t have many African Americans or people of color that I knew of back in the day, but I wasn’t even focusing on that. I was focused on having a job and doing my job.

I worked for Safeway as a meat wrapper. I started as a clerk and in those days, we had to wear little pink dresses to check out the groceries. I got to be the fastest checker in the store. When I first started there nobody wanted to come in my line, and when I ended there, everybody wanted to be in my line. When I’m given a job, I put all my effort into that job. 

I remember that being one of the best jobs I ever had, not because of the work, but because of the people. I loved being there because I saw people that looked like me, we had great music and people knew each other more than just by name.

I had the opportunity to buy my home in Kent in 2004 and that was a huge accomplishment for me. I had never bought anything on my own. I’ve now resided up on East Hill since 2004. 

I used to own a beauty supply store up on East Hill. There was this woman who wanted to buy some hair products for an interview. 

She put her stuff on the counter and she was fumbling for her money, and I just told her to not worry about paying and just go get her job. And she went and got the job. 

A couple of weeks later she sent me a letter in the mail saying thank you for helping her. For me, that was a million dollars right there.

I was part of the Kent Chamber of Commerce for about 6 or 7 years and ended up being one of the Membership Directors. I won an award for membership director of the year and that spurred me to get more involved. 

I even ran for City Council because there weren’t that many people of color in higher positions until Bill Boyce and Brenda Fincher showed up. I was doing things to show everyday people that you don’t have to be someone special, you just need to have desire to give back. 

That led me into the position I am in now as the Executive Director for Kent Black Action Commission. I did not see an active physical group of people doing things for our community. There were several people behind the scenes, but I wanted to give people an entity that they could join and be able to come talk about things. 

2020 came along and we had to shut down. We still wanted to be present even though we couldn’t be out with folks. We increased our online presence through social media and our website (www.KentBlackActionCommission.org) so that people knew we were still there and planning to come back when we could. 

Part of our motto is launching a legacy, and most people in the organization are my age. We need to elevate and do things to be able to pass on the baton to the next generation. 

There’s a lot more economically that we want to be able to address because we need more presence for our culture. Thank God for Altha's Louisiana Cajun Store & Deli. Before them, you couldn’t find the stuff from down South. 

Altha’s took a giant leap in bringing what we needed to the Northwest. Every time I go in there I think about my time in grocery. 

No one wants to feel like they are on the perimeter. Every culture and homage matters. Yes, we need to learn how to love our country but let’s make sure we don’t tear each other down, we just need to learn about what each community needs and see how we can get it for them. 

I like what we are becoming here in the City of Kent. We are in this diversity whirl and everyone wants to keep the culture of who they are but not so much that they don’t engage with others. 

The Race and Equity Program allows me to grow and understand other people. It doesn’t hurt to tell people what you want to see. I used to think you had to be someone special to do these things, but you don’t. I just want people to understand that you pay taxes here so you should be able to have some sort of say or discourse about what’s going on.

Everyone has that one spark that they need to move on to the next level, and I believe that the City of Kent has helped me with that. We haven’t always agreed, but through those disagreements I have found a listening ear with the Mayor. She has learned how to be really, truly concerned about whatever your issues or interests are.

I have 2 children, a daughter and son, and now I have grandchildren and great grandchildren. I’m really trying to settle down a bit but every time I say that something else comes up.

I never thought I would be engaged in a lot of the things that I’m in, so I want to help others get more engaged than they were. Every seat I have sat in wasn’t because I knew everything about it, it was because I took a chance and wanted to learn. Whatever you are doing, if there is a lot of strength, courage, and wisdom, you will move forward."

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 Meet Sister Ayesha,

Sister Ayesha Anderson is very involved in the community and works at ICNA Relief as a Program Manager for the Foster Care, Advocacy, Training and Education (FATE) Program. She loves uplifting and assisting others through her passion for service work.

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 Meet Heather,

Heather is a teacher at the Kent School District and shared her story about the impact COVID had on teaching and her students, and how they are recovering to progress forward.

"I grew up in the Tri-Cities and when my mom got remarried, we moved to Kent. I went to Northwood Junior High and then I graduated from Kentridge High School.

My first degree was a B.S. in Kinesiology from WSU. I always knew I wanted to work with kids, but I wasn’t entirely sure how. I thought I would go towards the money and do pediatric physical therapy. However, I realized that the medical field wasn’t for me. My dad was a substitute teacher and coach for a long time, and as a kid I loved pretending to be a teacher, so I decided to go back to school and become a teacher. I was at the central WSU campus at Kent Station, but that is closed now.

A significant aspect of my younger years was my dad being diagnosed with early onset dementia. I watched him deteriorate mentally throughout college, and he died at 55 a couple years after I graduated. Then, my brother passed a few years after that. My biggest takeaway was that not everyone gets to grow old. I try to appreciate the fact that I’m getting grey hairs – not everyone gets to experience that. It’s very cliché, but life is short.

After college, I was living in Puyallup teaching in the Fife school district, but I was always drawn back to Kent. Two summers ago, I was able to get hired in the Kent school district at my neighborhood school. I loved where I was working before, but I wanted to be more involved in the Kent community and work where I lived.

After Covid, on the first day back to school in person, I thought about how it had been 526 days since I had stood in a classroom in front of kids. Teaching online was the hardest experience of my life. It took a big hit on my mental health and I dealt with lot of depression during it.

When Kent schools went back in person, we had to figure out what it was like to be back in a classroom. My students had to learn how to sit in a classroom, work with other kids, get along and resolve conflicts. It’s easy to get frustrated and forget that these kids haven’t been here to learn these skills. We need to teach them. That’s important for us to carry forward too, covid or not; they are kids, and they are just learning how to be people.

I feel like teaching through Covid was a very defining time in my career. I realized how important our togetherness is. I’m a huge believer in classroom community and the kids aren’t going to learn if they don’t know that their teacher loves and cares about them. They’re going to make a lot of mistakes, so they need to feel safe to share and fail.

Some kids had families who could be home with them and support them when they were online, but a lot of our kids didn’t have that. Their parents had to work, or they had little siblings that they had to take care of. It was very difficult for a lot of those kids because they didn’t have a focused environment. This year, I think the structure will be back to normal, but there will still be things that we are making up for.

I’m excited that we get to do all the things that make school so much fun again. We can have assemblies in person, work together in groups, and other fun activities, like book tastings where I set my classroom up like a café and we read different genres.

I think being a mom has impacted me as a teacher. When I became a mom, I became more patient, and I better realized the brilliance of kids. They are such natural learners. How, as a teacher, do I keep them excited about learning? Along the way, some kids seem to get discouraged and that fire goes out. They stop getting excited to try new things and push past their failures. It makes me sad when a kid loses that. I want to do my best to prevent that and help kids develop a growth mindset.

I’m very involved in my community. My family goes to all the concerts, markets, and other events in Kent. We love to go kayaking at Lake Meridian, and I go running on Soos trail. I used to run half marathons and I’m trying to get back into that. I’ve been the point person for my neighborhood’s National Night Out, a block watch captain, and a member of our HOA. I think it’s important to know who our neighbors are to keep our neighborhood safe and support each other.

I just love our community. It is so diverse, and I like that we do things to embrace and showcase that. It is a huge strength of ours."

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 Meet Jonathan,

Jonathan sat down and talked with us about his challenging upbringing, work as a training and education program manager, and the music he makes to turn pain into passion.

“As far as my passion for my community, it started in my early 20s. Pretty much anything a kid could go through, I went through. In and out of the foster care system, not really having parents, growing up in drug houses, brothels, pretty much anything you can think of, I went through at a young age. I was raised in San Bernardino after Junior High, and that’s when things turned kind of crazy. It’s bad there, it has one of the highest murder rates in the country. That’s when I initially got caught up in gang activity. Where I was from, it wasn’t like nowadays where people join gangs because it’s cool. I did it because I had to. If you didn’t, you were getting jumped at the bus stops and there was pretty much a green light on you.

I eventually understood why people who came from my area ended up the way they did. It was this generational cycle of poverty. We call it the trap because that’s what it was. It was easy to get drugs and weapons. A lot of people in those areas get PTSD from seeing people killed or other traumas, so when it gets flooded with drugs people turn to that to numb their pain.

School was garbage because the money that went into schools in our neighborhood were from property taxes where we lived. When I was in 6^th grade, I was getting straight Fs, but when they assessed me, I was at a college level. They held a meeting with my mom, teachers, and principal to find out what was going on. What the school didn’t know was that I was suffering outside of school. I didn’t have food, my mom was on drugs, I was living in a gang infested area, we were poor, I was getting made fun of for my clothes, and I was going through mental health issues. But, at that time the schools didn’t know how to deal with situations like that, so I was just sent back to it all.

As soon as my life started to turn around and I got on a better path, I wanted to pay it forward. I knew I was going to run into people like me. I’ve spent the last 22-23 years doing community outreach from Southern to Northern and Central California, and even the border of Mexico because there were a lot of orphanages and trafficking out there. What I can say is whatever I went through I paid it forward. I can take my pain and use it as pain medicine. I went to areas that were infested with gang violence or a homicide location, and we would throw an outreach event. Whether it was a concert, free food, or a gathering of organizations, we would all come together and reach the community. Sometimes the mothers or family members of those who died would speak at the events. Those were powerful moments because gang members in the crowd would see the tears of a mother who just lost her son.

I lost my son to SIDS. You never truly heal from something like that. It was one of those things where I don’t understand why it happened, but it gives me empathy for people who have lost something. It’s another connection point between me and members of the community.

I used to question a lot why I had to go through what I did, but when I see how impactful it can be, I see that’s my purpose. Everything that I went through gave me a tool bag to come back and reach people now. If I had advice for those who feel like me, it would be to use your pain. Show others that even though you are hurting, you are still capable.

I believe a step towards empowering communities like where I come from is ownership. That, along with mental health resources, can change the trajectory and future of many.  

Right now, I am a Training and Education Program Manager. We work with single parents who are facing homelessness to get them shelter, and then attack what I call the hidden barriers. You can tell someone they need to work on their budget and how, but if they are not in the right mindset it won’t work. You have to attack the roots. Instead of continuing to pull people out of the river, head upstream and figure out why people are falling in. I didn’t use to care about my budgeting or my credit because I didn’t care about myself. If you don’t love yourself, you can’t care about all those other things.

One of the first things my grandpa told me when I first started working was that as a person of color, I was going to have to work twice as hard to get half as far. At first, I thought he was just being negative, but its real. My goal is to try and change that. When we don’t see many successful people who look like us, we settle for less. I am trying to empower myself and others who don’t feel like they have a voice. Your worth is not in your past, how you were raised, or mistakes you made, it’s in who you are and who you choose to be. Don’t settle for less.

I make music, like Christian hip hop, a mix between singing and rapping. We moved to Kent about a year and 3 months ago, and I haven’t done much with my music since then. My family is doing okay but I want to be financially stable before I really focus on music. My artist name is Jon E Quest. I’m on YouTube, SoundCloud, Instagram (@jon_e_quest), and you can google me. I put out my story through music.

What I love about the city of Kent is there is more potential in a place of diversity than anywhere else in the world. So many different cultures can come together and be an explosion of creativity, art, culture, unity, and togetherness. I think the world is getting to a place where people are tired of the division, and I think the places that are going to make the most noise are places of diversity.” 

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 Meet Cynthia,

Cynthia shared her journey from being born in Amsterdam, living and teaching English in Japan, settling in Kent, and now her work as a marketing manager for Kent station.

“I was born in Amsterdam. My parents were missionaries in Nigeria, West Africa, for 30 years and they were in the Netherlands for a year on break, and that’s where I happened to be born. My parents were both originally from the Netherlands as well. I was about 4 months old when we went back to Nigeria and my entire childhood was spent there. It’s kind of a surprise to people. 

I moved to the U.S. the summer I turned 18 to go to college. I went to college in Grand Rapids, Michigan, where I lived for 6 years. I met my first husband there and we got married right out of college. We ended up in Japan for 3 years teaching English. My daughter, Asia, was born while we were there. When we moved to Japan, the only thing I knew how to say was “Where is the bathroom?”, but I learned Japanese while living there. 
I also speak Hausa, which is a Nigerian language. Nigeria is an English-speaking country, but there are over 400 other languages, and Hausa is the main one in the area where I was raised. After 3 years in Japan our contract was up, and we weren’t sure what to do. We had a few friends and some family who had moved to the Seattle area, including a friend who I ended up donating a kidney to a few years after we moved here! We chose the area because we knew a few people and because we knew my ex-husband, Andy, would be able to find a web development job. 

We moved to Seattle from Japan in 2000. After about a year and a half we decided to look for a house. My son, Ezra, was born in Seattle right before we moved to Kent. It was in May 2003 that we ended up buying a house in Kent. We were super excited about the location. I loved seeing the schools here and how diverse they were. That was important to me, and something that I could relate to and that really resonated with me. The way that I grew up was extremely diverse; I was a Dutch/American/Canadian (it’s a long story) kid growing up in Nigeria and my school was extremely international. I loved for my kids to grow up in that same kind of environment.

Both my kids went through the Kent School District (Neely-O’Brian, Mill Creek Middle School, and Kent Meridian High School). I was involved in the PTA, mostly as president, for all the years my kids were in school. The kids both went on to Green River College.
I eventually got divorced and a few years later I married Cecil. Originally, we met because we were both volunteering at an event (a fundraiser for the Kent Downtown Partnership), so our relationship started by being involved in the Kent community! We got married in the Kent Station Santa house right after Christmas in 2015. Funny enough, Cecil is now a professional Santa and has been one of our Kent Station Santa’s!

I’ve worked at Kent Station since September 2009, so coming up on 13 years. I started part time at the front desk and then, a few years in, I started in the marketing position. People say that they’ve never met someone who is so matched to their job. I love my job! I care so deeply for all the owners and managers of our businesses and feel passionately about doing everything I can to support and promote them. I sure love putting on events for the community and to drive traffic here to our businesses!

One of my favorite things about working at Kent Station is how much of a part of the community it is. I think it’s special that the ownership of the property values giving back and being involved in the community. I represent Kent Station on the board for Kent Youth and Family Services (KYFS) and all year long we host fundraisers and support many local non-profits including KYFS, Communities in Schools of Kent, PICC and more.  I get to be creative and involved and give back. Being part of Kent has meant so much to me, both as a parent raising my kids here and through my job!”

 Meet Bryan,

Bryan sat down with us to talk about his cultural background, love of sustainable pottery and his pottery studio Soos Creek Studio, which is offering an apprenticeship program for youth ages 10-15.

“I moved to Japan when I was 6. My Japanese father said the only way you are going to truly learn the culture is to attend Japanese public schools. So, here I was… an outsider, but I learned so much. Maybe even more, because things were so unique and different.

I was a potter in Japan, and later went I went to the University of Puget Sound and majored in fine art where I had an emphasis on ceramics. That was a very robust ceramic school with their master’s program.

When we first moved here (Kent) in the early 1990’s it was a place to live. It wasn’t a place where we did our business, it wasn’t a place where we actively socialized.

I was working for a glass artist and because I did operations in Tacoma and Seattle, Kent was the perfect place to be in the middle for transportation purposes while raising my family.

I ran two fine art galleries in Tokyo and in Seattle from 1989 to 2019, right until the Covid19 pandemic.

During the pandemic, my wife and I wife begun the vision to start up a pottery studio that could become a voice and a force that would encourage other potters to come to the community of Kent.

One of our goals for the studio is that Kent would become the town in which many types of pottery expressions could be created here and where a cottage industry could foster. With pottery, you get a glimpse of human evolution. We get to look back to see who we were.

You get reminded that we didn’t just pop out of nowhere. We were part of this step-by-step cultural evolution of sharing and passing along.

We founded Soos Creek Studio, located near the Big Soos Creek in Kent, Washington. The inspiration for the studio’s name is the proximity to Soos Creek. The creek’s name comes from the Skopamish Indian, a village that once existed here.

Today, the legacy is appreciated through the Soos Creek Trail that offers a tranquil moment of wildlife and nature. The work is inspired from the long walks and conversations with folks who visit here from all around the world.

I’m passionate about doing pottery here in Kent and dream of it becoming something that can be passed on to the next generation. As far as I know, I’m the only pottery studio that is trying to actively create work here in Kent.

I really want to change that because it’s not a one-person job. It’s a collective thing, and the more collectively people get involved, the catalytic energy will grow even more.

So, with that we’ve begun the mission to make pottery with a very strong emphasis on something that is eco-friendly, earth-sustainable, and offering a plastic alternative.

I have hopes of creating a cottage industry where there are an abundant of plates, bowls, cups all made by local potters from Kent, or perhaps people will come to Kent, because that’s where you can get the best pottery.

Starting in 2023, Soos Creek Studio will initiate an after-school apprenticeship program for youth ages 10-15. This program encourages pairs of students to learn firsthand what is it like to become a professional ceramic potter. Students will learn work ethics, sustainable practices, and teamwork.

This apprenticeship is a place for students who want to make the planet a better place by using environmentally friendly materials and creating objects through pottery. The mission of the apprenticeship is to heal the planet, one pot at a time.

We want to be able to start the process with the next generation. The next generation ought to know what it is like to become a potter. It’s not just learning the technique. It’s not just learning how to use an app. It is about life…It’s about living.”

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 Meet Risho,

 Meet Mohammed, 

"In 2016 I came to Kent, and since then, I have not left Kent. I consider Kent home for me and my family.

Before I moved to the US I used to work with the US mission in Iraq, and because of my job I had to leave – there were security concerns about me and my family.

I applied as a refugee to get support from the US authorities and then I got admitted as a refugee. The whole journey was years long and it was traumatizing for my kids to be honest. It was not easy. But we are finally here.

In 2016, I came to Kent, and since then, I have not left. I love the place. I love how people here advocate for local communities and how everyone is supportive. I love the diversity of the population in this city. To me, it is home.

The resettlement agency that I came through was Jewish Family Services. The good thing about Kent is the number of resettlement agencies that work here. It is not easy to navigate a whole new life.

I think the hardest thing is just learning how to settle in as someone responsible in the family, like getting your first job, learning how to support your kids at school…just building a resume was very challenging for me. You are ending an old phase in your life that is not acknowledged as professional experience, so you are starting from scratch. But it is doable with the support of the bigger community.

It was through word of mouth that I learned about the Iraqi Community Center. The first time I went there I met with the Executive director and he said “I think we have an opportunity for you to volunteer. Are you willing to do this?” and I said “Yes”.

People at the community center asked me to apply for a job at another organization called Open Doors for multicultural families. This organization is focused on supporting people with disabilities.

I started working as a family support specialist. I helped people apply for services, learn how to navigate through the system to advocate for their kids at school, and how to get a system of support for their loved one with disabilities. Reaching the point where parents say “oh okay there is something that my child can do” – its beyond words.

From that, I moved on to the community center again as a homeless prevention case manager.

I worked with families in crisis. At the time of a hiccup, when families were struggling to pay rent, I jumped in and helped find the root cause of their crisis and how we could support them. At the community center we serve everyone – literally everyone who comes to our doors and asks for support.

My bachelor’s degree and masters are in literature. Literature is my world. Language, words, and literature are things I consider my kids.

I have read many writers, I love comparative literature in general, but in terms of exploring individual human psychology and the social and cultural atmosphere, I recommend Toni Morrison. She is wonderful at that.

But when I came to Kent, I worked with case managers and they told me “why don’t you get a certificate or something in computers?”

In 2020, I graduated from Green River College with a bachelor’s degree in information technology, IT networks and security. But I didn’t like working specifically in that field so what they told me at the community center was “the pandemic is changing everything, so we need something virtual, like a database” so I took on the task of being a data manager.

It’s a huge database for our clients. We are accumulating data, working on an analysis phase, and then reporting. It’s a little bit technical but it’s still working in the community.

I think in general, the way I see the city and the people, is welcoming. They have this open mindedness and these inclusive perspectives that enable everyone to do their best and improve the whole community."

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 Meet Taffy, 

“I moved here from San Francisco in 2006. It was a struggle for me to navigate the system, and understand the different communities, while also trying to find my own community- folks who identify as transgender, folks who identify as LGBTQ, but are also indigenous, people of color.

Moving to Washington, I realized there were so many community members that shared the same stories, struggles, and challenges I endured in my life that are still out there in need of support, and a space to come together. Not only mobilize our community, but to connect folks to help each other to navigate the system. A system that has been working against our community, a system that was created to tear our communities apart, continue to oppress our communities, and put us in silos and spaces where we are not able to feel safe or have a sense of belonging. So that’s how I got to this work, being able to find communities through shared challenges and struggles. When I hit rock bottom, I realized that what I needed was community.

This work found me; I was in a place where I wasn’t sure if I had a purpose in life. There was so much unknown and uncertainties. Not only trying to find my identity but also find a place where I belong. I resonate a lot with the folks that come through our doors. I was also houseless, I was also was on the streets, I was couch surfing for years, I was also disowned by my mother because of my gender identity. So of course, I resorted to drugs and substance abuse, it was easily accessible on the streets for me. So, I realized, that it was either continue doing that, or I had to leave. I had to find other avenues to support my family, but most importantly, take care of my health. I realized that a lot of people who I loved and cared for were turning away from me and it wasn’t because of anything malicious that I had intentionally done, but because I was going through so much and I had so much trauma from my past. Often times I was looked at as weird, and I didn’t fit in anywhere. I found myself running away from problems without addressing them.

I made the decision to go somewhere I didn’t know so I could try to rebuild and try to find a community that was supportive and healthy for me. I shared my stories, my struggles and that empowered me and others. I believe people are fully responsible and capable of where they want to be in life, but I think people need to live their true authentic self the way they should. Parents need to be a little bit more caring and supportive of those who identify as LGBTQ, and folks should be more kind to one another so that we can be able to live happy and healthy.

I realized there was an influx of pacific islanders who were migrating here from different parts of the US continent but also pacific islands like Hawaii Samoa and other island nations that were migrating here for better opportunities to further their education and find a place to build a family and communities, that’s how United Territories of Pacific Islanders Alliance (UTOPIA) was formed.

I founded UTOPIA in 2009, as the space for a community to find not only healing but also space to belong. Where we can see folks who look like us, who identify as us, but also share important cultural values that we bring from our communities. Since 2009, we’ve been able to reach communities outside of King County, we’ve been able to bridge communities as far as Peirce County, Thurston County, and Snohomish county, but now we’re growing exponentially across the state of WA.

There were a lot of challenges starting UTOPIA. I didn't know anything about starting a non-profit. One thing I knew for sure was to organize community and gather people. It was not always easy. I did my own research on how to operate as a non-profit. From 2009 through 2017, I did a lot of the work voluntarily, on top of my 9-5, where I used to work three jobs. I worked full time at the Department of Social Services as a Case Manager and at the airport as a ticketing agent, on top of that I was doing side jobs.  

In 2017, I was finally able to transition out of my full-time role with the state and do this work full time. So since 2017, up until now, we are a staff of 16 people who are all working full time, receiving full benefits, 100% paid healthcare benefits. These are individuals who graduated college, who have gotten multiple certifications but never given opportunities in White corporate America because of who they are and how they identify. I’m able to give back to the community and most importantly, employ the community, offer living wages, and healthcare.

At UTOPIA, we want to make sure that our youth has a seat at our table not only just to be visible but also to have a voice in decision making. I can’t put out programs for the youth without having them lead it. I want to see Utopia continue not only to be a space where folks can feel comfortable and as a trusted community-based organization, but also as a space of healing. And a place of refuge. So, if people who don't have anywhere to go, will feel safe to come here and we will give you love and care and provide with whatever resources we have.”

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 Meet Crystal, 

For a while, she was homeless, and found herself in the Kent jail often. Today, she works at the Union Gospel Mission as an outreach specialist helping others experiencing homelessness.

"I’m originally from Burien. I was homeless on the streets here because I used to go to jail in Kent a lot. One day I just got sick of it and I was done. I kind of forced myself to go into treatment. When you get to that point, you realize what you're missing out on and what you want in life and how hard it is to obtain it. With the access of people and resources, I do believe that when people have your back, it makes it a lot easier.

I was on Drug Offender Sentencing Alternative (DOSA) in this area because I had gotten in trouble in Seattle. When I got out of treatment, they placed me in Titus Ville where I lived for two years. I worked at MOD pizza, I completed my treatment program with no problems, and I ended up getting a job at the Union Gospel Mission.

I'm an outreach specialist and work with the homeless. From my personal opinion, and this is all I can base anything on, is that I am blessed to have my job.
My job has provided me with more outlets and more security with everything that we do. We always have more than one person, and we are always able to provide resources for people that are less fortunate than ourselves.

I try to build bonds with people out there so that I may one day be able to connect with them and when they're at their bottom, be able to structure them into their treatment, or moving them into a facility, or be able to do something. I truly believe some people must reach rock bottom, but when they do, we will be there. I'm so blessed to know that when I am there, I can help.

The most rewarding part of my job is to see the first glimpse of light that comes out of somebody. It's the most unexplainable, best feeling in the world that you are able to be there for that first glimpse of light. I'd like to see a lot more people get in, seek help. I'm coming up on two and a half years clean, and how I did it was this city."

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 Meet David, 

David sat down with us to talk about the work he does in the city and how he got into it.

When asked, “what brings you to this work” David responds:

"I come from a gang life, I've been in trouble though my entire youth. I came out of a dysfunctional family -  I understand the struggles and temptations that sometimes the youth face today. I know its different times today, but a lot of the problems seem to be the same. I come from that background so you know, I had to learn the hard way.

I didn’t really have anyone to guide me the best way, my dad was only part of the picture. He was dealing with an addiction so he wasn’t really guiding me towards the best life. My mom tried to work on keeping us together, so I had a lot of free time. I started to get involved in the gang life at a really young age and I left my house very young, so I started bouncing around from Mexico and LA, where I was born. I grew up in Mexico but I was born in LA.

I was always going back and fourth when I stayed in LA, that’s when I started to embrace the gang culture and got really heavily involved in it. That brought me really bad consequences to the point where I got put away for a long time. Over that time I came to realize some of the things I went through that got me to that point and it helped me understand how important it is to have somebody help you out. I wish I would’ve had that person that I am to other people today, unfortunately that wasn’t available to me and so that brings me to the work.

I’m available for people and families to make better choices to get better resources to get support that they might need. I can easily identify with a lot of the youth I'm working with in similar situations and similar arguments and decision making. Being able to intervene and interrupt that thinking is really key to me. At the end of the day, even though I'm not saving lives, its rewarding to see someone making the turn in their life. Its hard to see the progress, because you're working with people. People continue to learn, make mistakes. But, I've been in the work for over ten years now, I get to see guys that I've worked with before say “hey I have a family now, thank you so much for this” . That’s what fills me up and keeps me motivated to do the work, so, I know we’re doing something. I know we don’t get to see it on the spot, but I know were doing something when we get calls about how we’ve helped change their life.

I work at Centro Rendu as a Youth Project Manager. My organization brings programs and opportunities for adults and families. A new program was created called reroute where I wear many hats, program manager, case manager, mentor, facilitator. Whatever families and the youth need that’s what I’m involved in.

We work closely with the Kent School District specifically Mill Creek. Our group ages are 11-17 and is a gang prevention program so its designed to support youth who have behavioral or academic problems. So the relationship with the schools have been really great as far as them referring them to us, and giving us access to the youth and families. We work closely with Mill Creek, Kent Meridian, Kentwood, Kent Lake, Meeker Middle school.

Families are grateful when they learn about what we do and how we support the youth and their kids. At the beginning there are always questions as to what we do, how do we do it, who’s involved, but a lot of the times the kids are already caught up into something where the parents are already stressed out so typically when we come in, its more of a relieve to the parents like “someone is helping us out”. There aren’t very many questions as to who we are, they’re very open to having a conversation. 

I was introduced to the model of this work in LA but I was not really a part of it. Choices and consequences, it gave us the chance to bring in High schoolers and share our stories with these young

Before I used to do a lot of intervention work where things are already happening, but now we do more prevention work. I think that the prevention aspect is so much more important

I’ve learned so much resiliency throughout my life, how to bounce back quick and not take it so personal, but at the end of the day it’ll catch up to you especially when you work with a group of guys where you know the victim, aggressor. You have to separate yourself from that which is really hard but I’m a believer, I believe in god, so I just pray and focus on what I need to do right for the people I’m serving."

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 Meet Santa, 

“We had three days to leave. If you did not leave, the army was going to come and take you to jail or kill you.” Santa Pradhan is a former refugee who migrated into the US in 2009 after living in a Bhutanese camp for 18 years. In the early 1990s a civil war broke out between the Nepalis in Bhutan. Santa states “both your life and your family's life are in danger if you passed the notice they gave you. So, we left Bhutan in 1992 and went to Nepal. There was a refugee camp set up before we got there where people leaving Bhutan went to live. So, that’s where we lived for 18 years.”

Santa mentioned that during those years a lot of political talks happened between the Bhutanese and Nepalese governments for reparations for refugees to go back to their country, but nothing happened. So, any refugees that had lived in the camps for certain number of years, got the chance of getting sent to other countries. This was great news, but you must go through a thorough and lengthy process. 

“So, my family and I applied in 2007, but we couldn’t come at the same time. We were divided into small groups where you must go through a very thorough process of 6 to 12 months. Mine took almost 8 months. After 8 months, I got accepted to come to Seattle. You cannot choose what Country or State you come to. They will tell you just 3 days in advance “Hey, you’re going to Seattle! Luckily, my older brother was here one day before I came.”

Because Santa’s older brother was already in the Seattle area, the rest of her family had the opportunity to request where they would be sent, but there was no guarantee.

Santa and her family were one of the lucky ones who were able to reunite in Seattle after some time apart. Although she and her family were happy about this new start, adjusting to this new life took some time for Santa. She felt as though this fast-paced environment was not for her. She explained, “I felt very lost.” For the first year, Santa contemplated going back. After about a year or two, things started to feel more like home for Santa. “I started giving 100%” she stated.

Santa’s story comes full circle as she now works for World Relief as an employment manager. World Relief is a local refugee and immigrant resettlement agency that works to provide resources and opportunities.  This was the same agency to help Santa with her resettlement, housing, and job search.

Daily, Santa helps refugees alike adjust to their new life by giving them resources to new opportunities. Santa describes her job as “therapeutic” and “fulfilling” since she is helping those who were once in her place. 

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