SEATTLE — Mayor Jenny Durkan and the Seattle Human Services Department announced awardees on July 21 of the 2021 Community Safety Capacity Building RFP.
The City is providing $10.4 million in one-time funding for 18 months to 33 organizations, including API Chaya and Korean Community Service Center, working toward community-led solutions to end violence and increase safety in Black, Indigenous, and People of Color (BIPOC) communities.
Most applicants and awardees self-reported in their applications that their agencies work in spaces dedicated to interrupting the cycle of community violence, expanding trauma-informed practices, and youth, family, or community engagement. Community organizations primarily submitted proposals for prevention and restoration efforts rather than creating alternatives to 9-1-1 calls and policing.
Funding awards will range between $123,068 to $585,410 per organization.
After the death of George Floyd and protests against police brutality spread across the United States and internationally, Durkan committed $100 million in the city’s 2020 budget to improve outcomes for Seattle’s BIPOC communities, to begin to address the systemic harms caused by racist policies and generations of disinvestment.