Key SUYI Partnerships
The Seattle University Youth Initiative is possible because of our partnerships with the community. Within the SUYI zone are several partner agencies and organizations with shared mission and values for a more just and humane world.
Key partners like Seattle Housing Authority and Seattle Foundation have helped us create the Yesler Legacy Commitment. Read more below.
In 2024, Seattle University’s Sundborg Center for Community Engagement (CCE) was named lead partner for the Yesler Legacy Commitment, working in close collaboration with the Seattle Housing Authority (SHA) and the Seattle Foundation. The longtime partnership and commitment of CCE’s Seattle University Youth Initiative to the children and families of Yesler and nearby Bailey Gatzert Elementary School made it natural for the center to lead administration of this effort.
Throughout the redevelopment of the former Yesler Terrace into a mixed-income community with new and expanded affordable housing and amenities for low-income and other residents of the new Yesler, SHA and CCE maintained a commitment that access to opportunity be embedded in the community. A unique element of this setting is that where other development funding often sunsets post-construction, the Yesler Legacy Commitment is the result of a sustainable partnership model that will benefit residents for years to come.
The Legacy Commitment is community-driven and a powerful way for residents and community partners to collectively influence goals, decision-making and outcomes. With broad community engagement, guidance by a committee comprised of four Yesler residents plus one representative each from SHA, CCE and the Seattle Foundation, this mirrors strong community-building programs in other SHA communities. This innovative collaboration creates long-term, sustainable opportunities and life-changing outcomes for current and future Yesler residents, many of whom live on less than 30 percent of area median income.
The Yesler Legacy Commitment’s focus on youth and education closely aligns with the goals of the Seattle University Youth Initiative, which provides a birth-to-college and career pathway of support for young people in central Seattle. Programs will function as an amplifier for change, supporting youth development, improved education and positive health outcomes for the nearly 800 children and their families who reside at Yesler.
Read the Yesler Legacy commitment FAQ.