Washington State Coalition of African Community Leaders

About

Washington State Coalition of African Community Leaders (WSCACL) and our mission is to support African community organizations in WA State, by providing a platform where African community organizations can share resources and information to enable collaboration and be the Voice for the African communities in WA State. We serve the African communities in WA State. Our website is:  

Website: www.wscacl.org 

CREST Representative: Kwadwo Oware (he/him) 

 

Why did you join CREST?  

One of our coalition's main visions is to run our own Community Land Trust. This includes but not limited to getting, owning and operating African Community Centers across the 3 main counties (King, Snohomish and Pierce) in WA State. For that reason, I joined CREST to be able to learn about community real estate stewardship so I can apply the learnings within our coalition to help achieve our vision of having an African Community Land Trust. 

 

If you are working on a project, what is the project, where is it located, and who is it for? What is the vision and purpose of your project? 

We are currently in the conception phase of our WSACAL Land Trust. 

 

What are you proud to have accomplished so far related to your project or related to your community stewardship of land efforts?  

I'm proud of driving the enthusiasm around our coalition's vision of running our own Community Land Trust and that it's achievable looking at what other communities are doing. 

 

What are the next steps for your organization in realizing your project vision?  

Forming a project team and working with the Sage CREST team to help connect us to the right people/agency, etc. 

 

What support and expertise are you looking for?  

Thought partners and fundraising support 

TraeAnna Holiday, CREST cohort member from Africatown Seattle:

"I am so honored to be a part of what Puget Sound Sage is doing in this city. They brought together 20 organizations who may not have known each other, and together we are taking progressive models that are happening across the nation to reform and develop our spaces, have ownership in our spaces, create and rebuild our communities, and reclaim what has been taken from us. I represent Africatown Seattle, and if you know of what the Central District has gone through - it has suffered a great deal of gentrification, inequity and displacement. Africatown is working hard on the ground to develop buildings that are bringing our communities back.

For me, this is very personal. My family was displaced in 2003 and my parents had to buy a home in Federal Way. I have never known of Federal Way before. I grew up in the Central area, and it was all I knew for my whole life. It was so heartbreaking to my mother for us to have to move. We are one family, but displacement has affected so many more. This is why I’m so excited to be a part of this cohort. With the work of Puget Sound Sage, I am learning more on how to do this in a progressive way, ensure that we keep affordability for our communities and for our people, and to come back to spaces that we grew up in that we know and love.”