Rainier Vista gets a new center

When parents at Rainier Vista were asked what features they wanted in a new social services center, a Vietnamese émigré had a hopeful reply: "Can you put in a swimming pool?"

That didn't happen, of course, but the new Rainier Vista Center is still a notable addition to the housing redevelopment in Seattle's Rainier Valley.

The center will house Head Start, job-assistance, senior-citizen, computer and English-language programs for low-income families. The 10,000-square-foot facility, which opens Thursday, was built by Neighborhood House, a Seattle non-profit that helps immigrants, refugees and others with financial, educational and employment needs.

The building is the first constructed and owned by Neighborhood House in its 99-year history.

Neighborhood House previously operated its Head Start program in units in the old Rainier Vista, the World War II-era public housing that is being replaced with mixed-income housing.

The center brings Head Start and other Neighborhood House programs under one roof. The project cost $3.2 million, of which $2.8 million has been raised so far through public grants and private donors.

"We wanted to balance utility, function, cost and, I'd say, aesthetics," Neighborhood House Executive Director Mark Okazaki said Monday.

The agency initially had four designs for the center and sought feedback from Head Start parents and Rainier Vista residents, who include natives of Southeast Asia and East Africa. Surprisingly, they said they preferred a utilitarian design that looked like a pillbox.

When asked why, the parents and residents told Okazaki that in their native countries, "schools and government buildings look like that."

Neighborhood House went with a different design by its architect, the non-profit Environmental Works, that played up two other themes mentioned by the agency's clients: diversity and a village sensibility.

The diversity appears in the shed roof, which is sloped and not pitched, and the corrugated metal siding, painted rust, tan and forest green. A bamboo fence and plants native to Asia and desert climates add a sense of familiarity.

The center has windows situated to capture the most sunlight during the year and indoor lights that turn off automatically when no one is in a room, among other conservation measures. Some classroom windows are at the level of preschoolers.

Donors helping to pay for building costs are recognized on a 180-square-foot mural created out of broken colored glass by Mercer Island artist Chris Cocklin-Ray, who studied children's drawings for inspiration.

The center is expected to be used by clients such as Dong and Lanh Ho from Vietnam, who live a half-block from the facility with their four children, ages 1 to 13. The younger children will be in Head Start or Early Head Start, while the older ones can use a lab equipped with 14 computers.

Lanh Ho, 35, came to the United States in 1991 after living six months in a refugee camp in the Philippines. She became disabled after contracting polio when she was 4.

"It's hard to get a job, living homebound," she said through translator Kathy Nguyen, who met Ho while making "welcome home" visits to Rainier Vista residents for Neighborhood House.

Ho and her husband plan to enroll in English language classes at the center. "Too bad there's not a library here," Ho said. "Do you know where there is one?"

Through home visits and talking to parents, Neighborhood House staff has learned of various needs and concerns of clients, including social isolation, financial difficulties and educational problems, said Ray Li, the agency's development director.

The center includes a playroom/community meeting space, a kitchen, storage space and offices for several tenants, including the Seattle Housing Authority, Horn of Africa social service agency and International District Housing Alliance.

Neighborhood House tries to address its clients' cultural backgrounds "with respect and understanding," Okazaki said. "Before we teach the 'American way,' we have to teach the 'Somali way,' for example. We'll ask, 'What do you do in Somalia when a child misbehaves or when grandma acts funny?'

"And then we say, 'This is how we do it in America.' "

WANT TO GO?

The opening of Rainier Vista Center and the completion of the first redevelopment phase of Rainier Vista will be celebrated at 4 p.m. Thursday at 4410 29th Ave. S., Seattle. Information: www.nhwa.org.

P-I reporter John Iwasaki can be reached at 206-448-8096 or johniwasaki@seattlepi.com.

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