Seattle DSA & the Low Income Housing Institute – Real Work that Needs Doing

From Seattle DSA Community Service Vice Chair Christine McMullin – On June 3rd, the Seattle DSA Community Service Committee had our first official service outing. We created the Community Service Committee in order to provide an outlet for those who want to volunteer and serve in the Seattle community acting in accordance with our mission at the DSA. Being able to serve others with our time and donations is an another way that our members can be active and visible in society to make a positive impact on society.

Progress!

We are partnering with the Low Income Housing Institute (LIHI) once a month to assist in helping to support their mission of housing as a basic human right. On June 3, we helped at their facility in South Lake Union by helping to clean, weed, prune, and beautify an area so residents of the Bart Harvey apartments can take pride in their residence.

With a mission statement of “Everyone Deserves a Home”, LIHI has been serving the greater Seattle community since 1991 and has grown to operate over 2000 housing units at 51 properties, provide services at Urban Rest Stops, and assist with the building and maintenance of tiny house villages throughout Seattle.

Socialism at work

Our event was a great success! Together, Seattle DSA:

• Completed four work projects: the roof, the garden, the beds in the front, and an interior courtyard needed weeding, pruning and planting for the residents of 49 apartments
• Helped check off most of the work wishlist for Scott, the project manager, for the rest of 2017
• Contributed roughly 60 work hours to the property, which translates to roughly $1448 in pass-through donations
• Contributed to the mission of an awesome and well-established organization
• Had an amazing time, met some cool people, and bonded over socialism while doing real work that really needs to get done

We’re not done yet! The Community Service Committee will continue to have monthly events with LIHI all year long.

To get involved, please email [email protected]. To donate to LIHI, go here.