King County Councilmember Girmay Zahilay and several partner community organizations will host a block party on July 18 to celebrate and launch the concept of what will soon be a Youth Achievement Center (YAC) for youth living in South Seattle.

Proposed to be built adjacent to the Columbia City Light Rail Station, the YAC is a project being developed by a community-based coalition focused on addressing the various systemic obstacles that Black and Brown youth in South Seattle and King County are facing in their lives. It will provide permanent and emergency housing for youth, community services and programming, and space for commercial businesses.

The event is from 12 to 3 p.m. at Columbia City – MLK Way South and South Angeline Street

The youth in this area, who are predominantly Black and Brown, face systemic inequality that makes them more likely to experience unemployment, detention, violence, and housing instability. The YAC coalition is developing this project in collaboration with the youth in the community who are directly affected by these problems to begin taking steps towards addressing challenges created by historic and multigenerational inequities.