These Seattle teens organized to change 'inhumane' living conditions at their housing complex

Some residents of Jackson Park Village, a low-income housing community near Shoreline, say that it has "inhumane" living conditions for the people — mostly families of color — who live there.

Recently, young residents came together to organize for better living conditions by starting the Jackson Park Youth Coalition.

RadioActive’s Sadeen Al Ziyad is a resident of Jackson Park Village, and a member of the Coalition. She talked to her friend and neighbor Yerusalam Kamara who helped found the Coalition.

[RadioActive Youth Media is KUOW's radio journalism and audio storytelling program for young people. This story was entirely youth-produced, from the writing to the audio editing.]

Y

erusalam 'Yeru' Kamara is my best friend and my neighbor at Jackson Park Village. She is 16 years old, bubbly, and very organized. She played a vital role in making the Jackson Park Youth Coalition (JPYC) come to life.

Jackson Park Village is a townhouse complex managed by the Seattle Housing Authority. Each home is basically identical, with all orange doors and white exterior. I have lived there with my family for four years.

I asked Yeru why she started JPYC.

"We had a leaking ceiling," she told me. "And it started during the beginning of the pandemic. And we had put in work order after work order, and they never came."

I can relate to Yeru. In my house, there was mold in the corners of the bedrooms, and even water leaking into the laundry room from outside when it rained. I remember it taking more than six months for SHA to come and fix these issues.

Yeru said she thinks the homes in Jackson Park are neglected by the property managers.

"It took them two years to come and see that leaking ceiling," she said. "The leak could have led the tub to collapse on us from upstairs. And it could have killed anybody in that house."

After that, Yeru and I, along with about five other teens, formed JPYC in order to hold people in power accountable, and to fight for our rights as residents.

"Over time, we all shared our housing issues, and how bad it was, and how inhumane it was," Yeru said. "And we basically decided to make a coalition to advocate for better housing."

We did that by talking to King County councilmembers Girmay Zahilay and Rod Dembowski.

"June 10, 2022, was when councilmembers Girmay and Rod came," Yeru said. "It was amazing. We were highly anticipating it. We had planned for it. We gave tours of the playground, the parking lot, then we had a house tour."

Jackson Park Village residents sat in a big circle with the councilmembers, and everyone got to share concerns they had, even the children. Yeru and I were inspired by the courage of the kids, and the councilmembers were, too.

"It really touched my heart," Yeru said, "because I thought it was like, 'Oh, only big people can do this.' But it was amazing seeing those kids step up and share their problems."

Yeru and I don’t have to do all this. In a few years, we will be heading off to college with our whole lives ahead of us. But we — and many of the other teen members of the Coalition, like Lujain, Najuma, Simon, Dawit and Pawlos — do this organizing work for the younger generation, so they can have better living conditions.

And from just that one event the Coalition organized with the King County councilmembers, change has already begun.

"A lot has changed. Oh, my goodness," Yeru said. "The maintenance people have started coming on time. They have started power washing our buildings. And they've repainted the playgrounds. They are redoing the floors for the tutoring center."

Through our voices and organizing, the Jackson Park Youth Coalition was able to hold people in power accountable, and to make a real change.

This story was produced in a RadioActive Youth Media one-week Intro to Radio Storytelling workshop for high school-age youth. Production assistance by Dayana Capulong and Leila M'baye. Prepared for the web by Leila M'baye and Kelsey Kupferer.

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