Thank You, Seattle Parks Foundation -- It's Time for Us to Leave the Nest! 

  • May 7, 2018
April 26th, 2018 marked a major milestone in the history of Seattle Neighborhood Greenways. Our success is your success. We simply couldn't have made it here without the interest, engagement, volunteer effort, passion, partnerships, snappy tweets, and financial support that so many of you have provided from our earliest days of feisty advocacy in 2011. Gordon Padelford's letter, below, tells the story.    Dear Friends, We want you to be the first to know: Seattle Neighborhood Greenways has secured its 501(c)(3) status and will be stepping out from under Seattle Parks Foundation’s Fiscal Sponsorship umbrella effective April 26, 2018. As you are a supporter and/or volunteer of Seattle Neighborhood Greenways, we wanted you to know how your energy and investment have paid off. In 2011, when safe streets advocates in three neighborhoods—Northeast Seattle, Wallingford, and Beacon Hill—discovered their shared interest in making Seattle a more walkable and bikeable city, they joined forces and Seattle Neighborhood Greenways (SNG) was born. With Seattle Parks Foundation as a fiscal sponsor, we steadily expanded our grassroots advocacy, community leadership development, and coalition-building efforts. Now it’s time to take that work to the next level. With leadership from SNG’s founding director, Cathy Tuttle (who is still active as a board member), as well as dozens of committed volunteers and donors like you, our community-driven network achieved many early advocacy successes and built a reputation as a trusted partner with city and county agencies and a wide range of grassroots collaborators. In those early wins, SNG provided the vision, community outreach, and momentum that led city planners to incorporate neighborhood greenways—traffic-calmed streets that are safer for walking and biking—into Seattle’s Bicycle Master Plan. From there, we embarked on a multi-neighborhood listening effort to discover what mattered most to communities across the city and expanded the scope of our work to include the redevelopment of Rainier Avenue (Seattle’s most dangerous street), pocket parks in Lake City, and safe walking routes to parks, schools, and light rail stations. In 2016, SNG also led a successful campaign to reduce speed limits to safer levels citywide. In the past year, Gordon Padelford, who has been SNG staff since 2013, took the helm as executive director, and SNG’s amazing coalition of neighborhood groups have provided leadership on dozens of projects, including:
  • Georgetown-South Park Trail, garnering $600,000 in city support,
  • Community Package Coalition, an alliance of affordable housing, green space, and mobility groups that pushed for $82 million in public benefits as part of the Washington State Convention Center expansion, and
  • Safe Routes to School safety improvements at the new Robert Eagle Staff Middle School in the Licton Springs neighborhood.
Looking forward, Seattle Neighborhood Greenways will soon launch a four-year strategic plan to chart a course for greater impact at a neighborhood and city scale. We’ve identified top priorities including a focus on providing safe infrastructure for people walking, building a bike network that connects every neighborhood, creating safe routes to schools and transit, and championing projects identified by historically underinvested-in communities. Although the terms of our partnership with Seattle Parks Foundation have changed, the relationship will continue to thrive. Both organizations share a vision of a greener, more equitable, and more human-scaled public realm for all Seattle residents, and we look forward to significant collaboration in the years ahead. We hope it’s clear to see: Seattle Neighborhood Greenways, and the citywide movement for greater walkability and bikeability that you helped build, is growing. From now on, you’ll be able to donate directly to Seattle Neighborhood Greenways—online at seattlegreenways.org/donate, or via mail by sending a check to Seattle Neighborhood Greenways, 220 2nd Ave S #100, Seattle, WA 98104. Can we count on your support in this critical and exciting year? With heartfelt appreciation for all you do,   Gordon Padelford Executive Director Seattle Neighborhood Greenways   P.S. Don’t miss out on Seattle Neighborhood Greenways updates and events—sign up for our newsletter at www.seattlegreenways.org/newsletter.   You are now able to donate directly to Seattle Neighborhood Greenways at seattlegreenways.org/donate or by mailing your gift to 220 2nd Ave S #100, Seattle, WA 98104.          
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Seattle Neighborhood Greenways

1424 11th Ave Ste 400

Seattle, WA 98122

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