On Saturday, Sept. 7, Africatown Community Land Trust (ACLT) held a press conference to share findings from its 2021–2022 Benu Community Home (BENU) Impact Report. The press conference, which included a panel between the home’s director, Amir Law, and a few staff members, highlighted the building’s history, its acquisition, and its success in transforming the lives of its guests for the better.
Designed to serve Black men who qualify as chronically unhoused, programming at BENU is trauma-informed and culturally informed.
BENU is named after the Egyptian deity Bennu, who is believed to be the inspiration for the phoenix in Greek mythology. In addition to bringing cultural significance, the intent behind the home’s name is to encapsulate the symbolisms of hope, renewal, and transformation, represented by the Bennu bird, within its walls.
Formerly Keiro Rehabilitation and Care Center, an assisted living facility for the pan-Asian senior community, the building that houses BENU was acquired by ACLT in 2021 after community organizers successfully blocked the building from being sold to private developers to be converted into a market-rate apartment complex.
“We wanted to find an operator that would work with community [and] would allow community to lead in providing the context and the framework to bring culturally responsive, trauma-informed care that is addressing the unique experiences of the Black community, and particularly Black males, who are overrepresented significantly among the houseless population,” said K. Wyking Garrett, cofounder, president, and CEO of ACLT. “Unfortunately, no one wanted to partner to share power and follow community leadership in that way.”
So, ACLT decided to operate the building itself, reaching out to community members with experience working with homelessness and asking them to think about what would be necessary for a facility like this to be successful.
Just 60 days after acquiring the building, ACLT established a 125-bed, 24-7 enhanced shelter program at BENU. By Dec. 1, 2021, ACLT had completed renovations to the building, hired and trained nearly 30 staff, and opened its doors to its first group of guests.
Now, almost three years later, BENU has served 256 individuals, 95 of whom have transitioned into stable housing. BENU has also assisted 123 guests in finding employment. One of these former guests was Dagim Haile-Leul.
“[When] I was introduced to BENU, I was justice-impacted. I was in the court system, and I was released contingent upon my case being tried,” said Haile-Leul during the press conference panel. “BENU was where I was released to, and it allowed me stability in the crossroads of homelessness and the criminal legal system.”
Haile-Leul was born in Seattle and is a graduate of Garfield High School. The incident that brought him to BENU was his first time running into trouble with the law.
“That was my first time ever having any type of justice-related incident, and this place provided refuge, stability, and support in so many different facets of my life. I had an amazing case manager. The advocates made me feel welcome. I was also struggling with mental health at that time, and so had a renewed sense of community here, which I’m very blessed and honored to have been introduced to a place like this,” said Haile-Leul.
Though he has completed his program, Haile-Leul has not left BENU. No longer a guest, Haile-Leul, who has three college degrees, is now employed at the home as an advocate.
“I was so honored to be selected for the position of the advocate here — to have an opportunity to be instrumental in the lives of those that are guests here, more importantly, to be a part of the team that we have here,” said Haile-Leul.
As the Seattle City Council enters budgeting season and scrambles for solutions to address the impending $260 million budget deficit, funding for programs like BENU may be cut.
“We find ourselves now, as so many times [before], on the brink or vulnerable to budget cuts,” said Garrett at the press conference. “So often, budgets are balanced on the backs of Black communities, and still with all of the proclamations of equity and, you know, inclusive and social justice, you know that saying about last hired, first fired, the cycle kind of repeats.”
King County Councilmember Girmay Zahilay spoke at the press conference following the panel, sharing his own personal history with the building, as Zahilay’s mother worked at the Keiro Rehabilitation and Care Center for nearly 15 years.
“She was a nursing assistant here, a single mom working two or three jobs making minimum wage at a place like this. The reason why I am a councilmember is because of the experience of watching her navigate our systems. It would be one thing if she worked those minimum wage jobs and slowly she climbed out of poverty, took care of her kids, [and] was able to retire with dignity. That’s not what happened,” said Zahilay.
“The reason why I’m a councilmember is because [working] two jobs wasn’t enough. Three jobs wasn’t enough. She worked graveyard shifts — 16 hours, 20 hours a day — every single day, until she busted both of her knees here, and then she became disabled. And so now, if she didn’t have adult kids to take care of her, I think she would be one of the people on the streets.”
Zahilay also talked about being budget chair for King County Council, making a commitment to continue funding for BENU.
“So I reached out to Wyking recently and told him, ‘I’m the budget chair for the King County Council this year. Let’s meet, let’s connect, let’s find out how I can support it,’ and I will absolutely be supported in doing everything I can for this building,” Zahilay said.
Seattle City Councilmember Joy Hollingsworth also came out to express her support for BENU, thanking ACLT for the work it has done in her district.
“I want to thank Africatown, the people that work at BENU, [for] all the things that are going on with Africatown,” she said.
She also committed to advocating on ACLT’s behalf to Seattle City Council Budget Chair Dan Strauss for additional funding for the organization to continue to support projects like BENU.
Lauryn Bray is a writer and reporter for the South Seattle Emerald. She has a degree in English with a concentration in creative writing from CUNY Hunter College. She is from Sacramento, California, and has been living in King County since June 2022.