No More Under – Saving Lives Through Water Safety Education and Advocacy: N2N Spotlight Blog Fall 2023

By: Aileen Balahadia, N2N Program Consultant N2N was founded with the ultimate goal of supporting community led efforts to change racist systems, policies, and practices that have had generations of damaging effects on Black and brown communities. While many N2N groups are at the early stage of their advocacy journey, one recent Fall 2023 grantee, […]

Fostering Community Wellness, Resilience, and Connection: N2N Grantee Convening 2023

By: Aileen Balahadia This year’s N2N Grantee convening was held for the first time since 2019, on September 13, 2023, at the Bethaday Community Learning Center in White Center. The theme of the evening was “Community Care, Wellness and Resilience”, a fitting tribute to the community’s efforts to uplift and support each other during such […]

Our Duty of Care, Lao Senior Outreach: N2N Spotlight Summer 2023   

By: Aileen Balahadia, N2N Program Consultant   Photo from Lao Senior Outreach  In a recent Facebook post, N2N Summer grantee and newly formed organization Lao Senior Outreach shared photos and an explanation of the importance for Lao seniors to visit the local Buddhist temple in Skyway: Wat Lao Mixayaram.   “It was an honor to be able […]

Neighbor to Neighbor Spotlight Summer 2022: Praxis Institute for Early Childhood Education

Centering the power of community is critical when providing safe and culturally responsive spaces for Black youth. Bringing community voice back to the education of Black students is one way to help close the racial disparity seen in classrooms. By Aileen Balahadia, N2N Program Consultant When Dr. Debra Sullivan talks about supporting Black childhood education, […]

Honoring Pillars of this Community

“Liberated relationships are one of the ways we actually create abundant justice, the understanding that there is enough attention, care, resource, and connection for all of us to access belonging, to be in our dignity, and to be safe in community.” ? adrienne maree brown By Alesha Washington As I reach my three-month mark with […]

N2N Spotlight Spring 2022: New Connections of South King County

A fresh start for justice-involved youth, adults, and families. By: Aileen Balahadia, N2N Program Consultant New Connections has a 20-year history of serving the Kent and the South King County communities. Their mission is to connect justice-involved youth, adults, and families for a fresh start with education and resources. Justice-involved youth are those who have […]

N2N Spotlight Winter 2022: Inside White Center and the UpNUp

Our words, our way: A look at two community-based podcasts recently funded by N2N. By: Aileen Balahadia, N2N Program Consultant and Elaine Chu, Senior Philanthropic Officer Representation matters. In the mainstream media, we do not see accurate representation of the faces, languages, viewpoints, and lived experiences of diverse communities of color. Negative stereotypes, unbalanced reporting, […]

N2N Spotlight: Wonder of Women International

Creating sacred space that unapologetically centers Black women and people By: Aileen Balahadia, N2N Program Consultant and Elaine Chu, Senior Philanthropic Officer During a Neighbor 2 Neighbor (N2N) virtual site visit with Wonder of Women International (WOW), we got a glimpse of their gallery space in downtown Seattle, and we immediately realized that Zoom just […]

Opening the Door to a More Inclusive Society

How Open Doors for Multicultural Families is Meeting the Needs of People with Intellectual/Developmental Disabilities and their Families “You have to love yourself first and build self-confidence.” This is the mantra Ginger Kwan holds as she helps multicultural families navigate complex special education systems. As the mother of a son with a disability, Kwan understands […]

N2N Spotlight: Black Dollar Days Task Force’s Clean Green Farms

Promoting health and self-sufficiency with Black and African American youth, one seed at a time. By: Aileen Balahadia, N2N Program Consultant Supporting Black Dollar Days Task Force (BDDTF) this year feels poignant, as we, Neighbor to Neighbor (N2N), continue celebrating our 30th anniversary. BDDTF received a grant in 1991, the year N2N was launched, and […]