Race and Minorities – Promising Practice

Résumé du document

The Urban Enterprise Center was created in 1995 to improve the social relations in Seattle after the celebrations dedicated to Martin Luther King two years prior where the offices of the Greater Seattle Chamber of Commerce were stormed and the local citizens made themselves heard. They made clear the abysmal living conditions faced on a daily basis including drugs, extreme poverty, racism, crime and violence as well as heavy unemployment, especially in the Central Area and Rainier Valley, despite Seattle gaining the status of the ‘Most Livable City' awarded by Money. The organization is a three-tiered one working to improve social conditions for all in Seattle and particularly for those in the most destitute regions. It is a non-profit organization working on three levels – Forums on Race, Corporate Job Challenges and business development, in order to strengthen social cohesion and create better chances for minorities, such as better employment prospects. The Forums on Race aim to promote education and eradicate common factors, which cause racism, such as fear.

Extraits

[...] The first part of the three step plan leads naturally and logically to the second phase In-Home Dinner Groups. Here, different ethnic minorities are brought together in the houses of participants to converse on issues of race and difficulties encountered. A unique aspect of this part of the program is that it enables people who may work together or see each other in the community, to get together who may otherwise have thought they had nothing in common and to be able to discuss in a homely, friendly environment these issues. [...]

[...] They are also recipients of the City of Seattle's Award of Excellence in the domain of non-profit organizations with outstanding leadership and for valuing and managing diversity. The Forums on Race program was also awarded the Northwest Coalition for Human Dignity's Faces of Courage Award 2000 for their work pertaining to breaking down barriers that foster racism. The Corporate Job Challenge has also had tremendous effects on the society. As we saw earlier, close to 10,000 minority employees have been hired in Seattle businesses and are earning living wages. [...]

[...] McKinney Social Justice Award showing what a difference it makes in this domain and how much of an active role it plays. In this way, it is clear that before the UEC was conceived, the racial disparities and tensions were emphasizes much more than they are now thanks to all the work which has taken place through this non-profit organization. More minorities and women are employed and entrepreneurs in their own rights, more open-air discussion is taking place throughout the society adults, youngsters, in homes, in churches and so on. [...]

[...] The Business Incubator will provide hands-on assistance and a variety of business and technical support services during the early, more vulnerable years of new ventures”[8]. The Grants Proposals and Assistance department helps encourage and stimulate business growth in the Central Area and Rainier Valley by reducing barriers to business expansion. 1996, the UEC submitted a proposal to the Ford Foundation in partnership with the Seattle Foundation, Medina Foundation, Seattle University, LISC and the City of Seattle. Seattle was selected as the recipient of a $ 2.5 million grant for business development in Seattle's distressed communities”[9]. [...]

[...] They work in partnership with companies sharing the same work ethic towards ensuring racial equality and fair treatment in the work place. The Business Development department focuses on economic development especially in the Central Area as well as the Rainier Valley to promote better social conditions and thus a friendlier, closer-knit society. They provide financial support to difficult areas in order to rectify the disparities. More than 50 minority businesses have benefited from the program to date. Program Operations: Each sector has made marvelous headway in the organizations goals, as we shall now see. [...]