Mayor Harrell & Uplift Northwest Relaunch Program

MAYOR HARRELL AND UPLIFT NORTHWEST PARTNER TO DEPLOY GRAFFITI ABATEMENT CREWS THROUGHOUT KING COUNTY

Seattle, WA - Uplift Northwest is pleased to announce the relaunch of its ULNW Graffiti Abatement Program in partnership with Mayor Harrell and King County, with the aim of eradicating graffiti in the City of Seattle. The job training program was initially launched in partnership with Uplift Northwest and a group of students at City University as their final Enactus project, and following a successful pilot in 2022, which was well-received by the community and garnered positive media coverage, there has been a continued need to reestablish this workforce development initiative long-term.

The Uplift Northwest Graffiti Abatement Program will relaunch with three Graffiti Abatement Teams and will include, a comprehensive training platform that includes both theoretical and practical learning modules. Uplift Northwest will also collaborate with other City of Seattle stakeholders, such as Belltown United, Downtown Seattle Association and City University of Seattle, to identify and eliminate graffiti throughout the city.

Furthermore, Uplift Northwest is dedicated to providing a range of support services, including case management and multiple vocational coaching opportunities, to program participants, creating sustainable employment opportunities. "The opportunity to include this new training program in our courses and certifications at Uplift Northwest is invigorating, and we've seen a great deal of interest from our participants in joining the Graffiti Abatement Program. We expect continued enrollment and hope to see more teams deployed throughout the city," said Max Churaisin, Senior Manager, Mission Programs at Uplift Northwest.

Each participant who joins Uplift Northwest as part of these teams will learn a skill that aligns with the organization's mission of building careers and securing living wage jobs for every individual in the city. The relaunch of this program would not have been possible without the support of Mayor Harrell, the innovation of the students at City University, and the essential workers of Uplift Northwest. "It's a fantastic experience to be able to apply the concepts that I'm learning in my CityU of Seattle classes to real-world business scenarios that are having a positive impact on our community," said Shanna Sims, CityU Project Lead.

Uplift Northwest is thrilled to invite individuals and organizations to participate in this initiative, as the need for graffiti abatement continues to grow in our city. We are committed to creating career pathways for every individual in our community and making Seattle a cleaner and more beautiful place to live.

To learn more about Uplift Northwest, please visit upliftnw.org.

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ABOUT UPLIFT NORTHWEST

Uplift Northwest, formerly the Millionair Club Charity, is on a mission to provide dignified jobs and job-readiness services to people experiencing poverty and homelessness in the Puget Sound Region. Uplift Northwest has operated continuously in Seattle since 1921 and connects people with life-changing job opportunities and support while its staffing operation provides employers with dependable, flexible, and affordable staffing solutions.

ABOUT CITY UNIVERSITY OF SEATTLE

City University of Seattle has been relentlessly reimagining higher education in the Pacific Northwest and around the world since 1973. CityU is a private, nonprofit university dedicated to serving working adults and transfer students. The university is recognized as a Top 10 educator of adults nationwide and is ranked as a Best Online Bachelor’s Program 2022 and as a Best Online Bachelor’s Program for Veterans 2022 by U.S. News & World Report. Accredited by the Northwest Commission on Colleges and Universities through the doctoral level, CityU offers more than 65 online, onsite and performance-based programs. CityU is headquartered in downtown Seattle, Washington, and has multiple sites throughout Western Washington, Canada and abroad. For more information, visit https://www.CityU.edu.

ABOUT BELLTOWN UNITED

Belltown United: Belltown United is a coalition of volunteers from our neighborhood residential, business association and community council, working to advocate for the interests of neighborhood residents, businesses, and property owners. We promote inclusion and connection, embrace urban growth and celebrate the diversity of people and places in Belltown. We connect with city services including the Office of Economic Development (OED), Department of Neighborhoods (DON), Department of Transportation (SDOT) and Parks (SPR), and aligned organizations including the Downtown Seattle Association (DSA) /Metropolitan Improvement District (MID) and non-profit community partners.