Isaac Robersone pointed to thank-you cards taped to the wall at the Rainier Beach Action Coalition (RBAC) office, paying particular attention to a card sent by a group of middle schoolers he helped plant flowers and pull weeds. Robersone said the card read, "Thank you for teaching us to plant and take care of the neighborhood," and "You made sure we were safe."
"When they feel like they can make that change for their neighborhood, that's the best thing I can provide," he said with a grin.
Robersone is a youth and neighbor engagement coordinator at RBAC. The nonprofit is known for community organizing for a safer, more sustainable, and well-connected neighborhood through numerous programs, including a food hub; a program for growing and distributing produce; the Back2School Bash that offers school supplies to kids; programs that encourage public safety; and more.
RBAC staff and youth will hold weekly activations at key points in Rainier Beach, including at the Rainier Beach Community Center and the Rainier Beach Station, each Wednesday starting March 25 and running through fall.
RBAC's managing strategist, Gregory Davis, says activations, which first debuted in 2015, rely on the efforts of three groups: people who gather at a pop-up canopy and table and greet passersby and share information on community resources; a "clean crew" that picks up litter or cuts back shrubs (they also use the city's Find It, Fix It service to report repair needs); and people called "guardians" who are trained to keep people on the streets safe by sharing de-escalation skills.
The activations are meant to be fun, so there's music. Sometimes, there's craft-making or an open mic, and occasionally there's been a restorative-justice circle.
Along with activations, RBAC's teen program facilitated a Rainier Beach Public Safety Town Hall on March 6, supported by Robersone and other young leaders. The organizers are synthesizing the safety information collected at the town hall and through surveys, the results of which will be presented in April. RBAC has been holding town halls for decades, and the most recent event had been planned before the Jan. 30 shooting deaths of Tyjon Malik Stewart, 18, and Tra'Veiah Houfmuse, 17, at a bus stop outside the Rainier Beach Community Center.
Activations in Rainier Beach have been an intentional and studied practice. In 2012, the City received a $1 million grant that it used to contract with community organizations, such as RBAC and the Rainier Vista Boys & Girls Club, to implement community-based crime prevention. At the time, George Mason University (GMU) was researching Seattle's crime and found that 50% of criminal incidents happened in 5% of the city's streets. "The idea was that if the 5% of spaces were 'activated,' would the crime decrease by 50%?" Davis said. GMU's analysis identified five areas where a community-driven method could be used to bring down neighborhood crime rates and planned activation of those spaces.
Meanwhile, the Rainier Vista Boys & Girls Club hired guardians to engage in youth outreach and ensure safe passage for students to school and home.
Later, this program added training youth in restorative practices, such as holding peace circles. Within a year, RBAC and GMU found a 40% decrease in incidents that contributed to youth crime in the five activation locations. That meant fewer fights and car break-ins.
When COVID-19 shut down much of the city, Davis says the Safeway in Rainier Beach, at 9262 Rainier Ave. S., was in need of care after shootings occurred in the parking lot. RBAC and the Boys & Girls Club brought in canopies, food, and resources to activate the space in 2023, and RBAC encouraged Safeway to increase lighting in outside areas.
As the activations are set in motion, Davis looks to future programs. At the March 6 town hall, RBAC handed out free red emergency-preparedness backpacks. RBAC is planning an upcoming workshop that'll provide emergency supplies to fill the packs.
RBAC also hopes to collaborate more with third-party security services, like those at Safeway and Key Bank, along with Sound Transit's transit enforcement. And after years of revolving South Precinct captains, RBAC also plans to keep tabs on Capt. Heidi Tuttle, who's new to the role in the South Precinct and expected to stay in this role for several years.
Carmen Berrysmith is a fourth-generation Seattleite who grew up in the Central District and Othello neighborhoods, went to Cleveland High School, and worked at Tilth Alliance before arriving at RBAC as a senior specialist for youth and neighborhood engagement.
Berrysmith says they needed a "safe haven" when they were growing up and then leaned into nature. Their first job as a teen was trail restoration work. "We were moving buckets of gravel. It was hard work," said Berrysmith. "But then I saw the trail that we restored, and I realized why I worked. It was so that people could see and experience a better space and it can be a bit easier for them to access. … The point of the story was that something needed to be changed, they worked to change it, and now it's better."
Safiyat Bayo works for RBAC as the communication lead for the youth. She also monitors and evaluates the other adult leaders. Bayo started volunteering at RBAC at 14, when she attended Rainier Beach High School. "Six classmates passed away that year. All of them died from gun violence. There was a lot of grieving in school," said Bayo. "I was really passionate about being in the neighborhood and preventing those things."
Bayo continued, "For youth to have restorative-justice training, to create their own peace circles and their own space and organize town halls to say, 'This is what we need,' this gives the youth the ability to harness their power for healing and connecting."
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