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Background
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| The Urban Impact Team at Fall Retreat |
November 2004 - Pastor Harvey Drake and Pastor Paul Olver of Emerald City Outreach Ministries and Northwest
Urban Ministries respectively, were both in need of hiring an Executive Director. Hiring a shared E.D. was an idea placed
on the table, which led to a conversation about merging the two organizations.
After months of due diligence, on May
31, 2005, both Boards unanimously voted in favor of a full organizational merger. The new organization is called Urban Impact.
Together, Urban Impact will recognize greater fiscal efficiency and leveraged human capital which will result in stronger
programs. Together Urban Impact will significantly increase our capacity to impact the Rainier Valley corridor with three
site locations: Rainier Health and Fitness, Urban Impact Rainier Center (Hillman City) and Emerald City Outreach Ministries
(Rainier Beach).
The launch date of Urban Impact was September 1, 2005.
The Vision
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| Rachel of Ranier Ave. Church with Mekong Center Youth |
The uniqueness in Urban Impact rests in its relationship with the local church. Each of the three Site Locations will have
a direct partnership with a local church. Effectually, the church and the site locations will integrate strategic plans for
reaching their community.
In practice, site locations will minister to the specific needs of their unique community. Serving people by meeting
physical needs generates relationships with community members. Once the Gospel is lived in body, and developed trusting relationships,
a door will open to preach the Gospel in Word and invite neighbors to church.
The Opportunity
Merging ECOM and NWUM exemplifies and models the very reconciliation we purpose in our mission. We believe this merger will
ignite a movement of reconciliation and partnership between different parachurch organizations, different church denominations,
the parachurch and the church, suburban and urban organizations and most importantly the individual and the Creator.
The Need
Every community has needs; however, Urban Impact has identified three primary areas of disparity plaguing the Rainier Valley:
education, healthcare and economics.
Education
Studying one of the elementary schools (School X) Urban Impact works closely with reveals a significant
disparity in academic performance between School X and the rest of the Seattle School District.
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| Member of Ranier Health & Fitness after Jingle Bell Dash |
Health Care
According to shapeupamerica.org, unhealthy weight is most prevalent in low income and ethnic minority
populations. Obesity is one of the leading causes of Type II Diabetes, Stroke, Heart Disease, Cancer and many other illnesses.
Overweight and Obesity are a $100M drain on the US economy annually. And perhaps most alarmingly, unhealthy weight causes
300,000 preventable deaths annually, second only to smoking.
Unhealthy weight and all its various side effects, along with health concerns that affect any community,
plague the urban core. Despite this, there are only .2 physician offices per 1,000 people in the Urban Impact zip code, compared
to .6 in greater Seattle.
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| Community enjoying our P-Patch Program |
Economics
The Rainier Valley faces a disproportionate amount of negative economic hardships.
Poverty is widely discussed in this analysis. The Federal Government uses the following information to determine poverty:
Currently [2005], the poverty level for an individual is $9,570 and $19,350 for a family of four with two children.
If the total income of that persons family is less than the poverty threshold appropriate for that family, then the person
is considered poor, together with every member of his or her family (U.S. Census Bureau, Census 2000 Summary File 3 Technical
Documentation, 2002).
The following table displays the disparity in economic indicators between Greater Seattle, Zip Code 98118 (Urban Impacts)
and Census Tract 110 (more accurately represents UIs target population).
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Indicator
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Seattle Metro*
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98118
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Tract 110
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Population Density (people per square mi.)
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546
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6,599
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5,096
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Median Household Income
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$52,804
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$44,697
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$36,754
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Poverty Rate
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7.9%
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13.9%
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18.7%
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Child Poverty Rate
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9.4%
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20.2%
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27.9%
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Elderly Poverty Rate
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7.3%
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10.4%
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14%
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# of people living in poverty
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5,616
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1,170
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Unemployment Rate
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4.6%
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7.4%
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10.9%
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# of establishments per 1000 population
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32
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16
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N/A
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Estimated employment per 1000 population
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491
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168
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N/A
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% persons 16+ yrs old employed in mgmt. occ.
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40.9%
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32.8%
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24.3%
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Vacancy Rate
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4.7%
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4.6%
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8.2%
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Homeownership Rate
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62%
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61.9%
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50.4%
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% housing units that are overcrowded
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4.8%
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14.7%
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24.1%
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Home purchase mortgage loans per 1,000 housing units
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85
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N/A
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48
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*Seattle, Bellevue-Everett, WA
While not a problem, in fact more of a blessing, the Rainier Valley is extremely diverse. In fact, the Seattle Times
released a study claiming that within one square mile of the Rainier Valley, over 100 languages and dialects were spoken in
the homes of residents. This diversity raises challenges in building community and working cooperatively. However, it also
presents great opportunity for growth and learning from each other.
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