Our Mission
We build power, combat displacement, and preserve culture through collective ownership and shared programs.
Picture this…a vibrant cross-cultural space and community center that provides a stable, enduring home for eight cultural anchor organizations; a safe and welcoming space for over 15,000 immigrants, refugees, and people who have experienced displacement, trauma, and hardship; a space that is fully owned and operated by communities of color in the Rainier Valley and which, over time, will even generate revenue to address local needs and priorities, thereby ensuring stability and generating generational wealth. This is our vision for the Multicultural Community Coalition (MCC), and in the past two years − through fundraising and space planning and doing the hard work of forging a governance and ownership structure−this vision is now within reach.
It is important to note that our vision for this effort is driven by three core beliefs: ONE: we believe that by working together, we can create an ownership stake in the community we helped build, shape, and enrich, and from which our people face the threat of displacement; TWO: we believe that in sharing a common space, our organizations can create synergies within an economy of scale model, harness our power to build cultural capital and foster creative collaborations that make us better, stronger and more effective; THREE: we believe that by working together, we can elevate, honor and celebrate the traditions and practices that have enriched our community and are vital to our identity, our wellbeing, and our common future.
Our Vision:
Greater Seattle is a city that is diverse, just, equitable, and free of racism in which communities of color have the power and authority to determine our futures and all people thrive.
Seattle’s history of racist housing and real estate practices and policies − including racially restrictive covenants and redlining − have created grave inequities that have harmed and constrained Black communities throughout the Central District and Southeast Seattle; inequities which still impact residents in terms of disparate educational and employment opportunities, diminished health outcomes, significant economic inequity and other disparities in quality of life.
MCC was formed from the inspired vision and determined activism of community leaders and local residents who, in the midst of a growing wave of gentrification and displacement, believed that by mobilizing their collective resources they could place a stake in the ground for Black, immigrant and refugee communities who have historically called the Rainier Valley home.
The MCC project, one of 5 EDI demonstration projects, has been planned for a decade as a vibrant community-owned, multicultural home and shared service-delivery center for several community-based organizations serving Seattle’s growing immigrant, refugee, and people of color communities. MCC will anchor several community organizations, currently at risk of displacement, by creating a shared, multicultural community-owned and operated co-working space and an essential Cultural Innovation Center (CIC); by way of an example, one of our organizations located in Columbia City is experiencing an annual 4% increase in rent, even during this year of COVID, while remaining unsure if its property owner will succumb to the development pressure that is exemplified by development taking place right across the street as well as in the adjacent block.
We were on a path to achieve our project goals through our involvement in the Othello Square/Opportunity Center project which sought to complete our project in 2023, but the complexity of this endeavor that is led by HomeSight has recently stood to the detriment of our organization and has resulted in the loss of 3 of the 4 building partners with only HomeSight remaining. Fortuitously, we have embarked on this great and timely opportunity that would succeed in the non-displacement of 8 East African small businesses which is well-aligned with our disaster gentrification policy work in which we are currently fully engaged in a partnership with Puget Sound Sage and Rainier Beach Action Coalition.