Levy Dollars in Action: Wakulima USA
By Yordanos Tesfazion
From Shoreline to Enumclaw and everywhere in between, King County is the state’s largest and most diverse county. With upwards of 2.34 million residents, it’s also the 12th most populous county in the entire nation. Just over 30% of King County speaks a language other than English at home—over half a million people. The large majority of those folks don’t have deep roots here, let alone the United States.
Recent U.S. census data reveals that the number of people moving to the Seattle metro area is growing faster than the country’s average. Most folks who are relocating to the region are moving from other countries, a common pattern seen in other U.S. metros across the country.
Immigrants in King County have always been a strong force. The first few known non-settler immigrants in the region made names for themselves amid the early years of settler colonialism, when little to no people looked like them.
The first non-Indigenous residents of King County were a group of farmers who settled in present-day Georgetown in 1851, a week before the Denny Party made it to Alki Point. At the time of their arrival, the region was still a part of the Oregon Territory. The Washington Territory wasn’t established until President Millard Fillmore signed the Organic Act of 1853, allowing settlers to create a system of governance in the territory.
The Oregon Territory’s exclusion laws prohibited Black people from existing—as visitors and residents—in the territory. Following the passage of the Organic Act, the Washington Territory saw its first known Black resident in 1858, Emanuel Lopes of the Cape Verde Islands.
Less than 200 non-Duwamish residents lived in King County in the late 1850s, and Lopes was amongst the first non-Indigenous, non-European American faces in the area. About a year later, two more men joined him: Underground Railroad leader William Grose, who also founded the Central District, and businessman Chun Ching Hock, Seattle’s first Chinese immigrant.
King County Today
Nearly 165 years and millions of residents later, immigrants now make up around a quarter of King County’s population, with over 150 languages represented within county boundaries. The multitude of ethnic grocery stores, immigrant-run small businesses, and cultural community centers in King County reflect the hundreds of thousands of foreigners who left their homes to pursue dreams, seek refuge, or start a new chapter in life.
Immigrants are far from a monolith, and their experiences can vary depending on factors such as their socioeconomic status, educational background, language proficiency, and support networks. Self-sufficiency can be difficult to attain for many immigrants, especially refugees and others who move to a new country for a chance at a more promising future for themselves and their families.
Fortunately, the growing number of immigrants and refugees in King County over the last several decades has led to the formation of numerous organizations with culturally competent community leaders and volunteers—Wakulima USA is one of them.
For nearly a decade, Wakulima has opened its doors to provide fresh foods, mental health services, youth mentorship, and community for immigrants, refugees, and Black, Indigenous, People of Color (BIPOC) in South King County.
Over 40,000 East African immigrants and their families live in King County, mostly concentrated around South Seattle. While Wakulima supports immigrants and non-immigrants alike, the vast majority of people who stop by the farm are from East Africa. Their culturally relevant services are designed to address unique challenges faced by East African immigrants and their families while promoting wellness, physical and mental health, and self-sufficiency.
The Wakulima leadership team consists of Executive Director Venessa Runo, Development Director Maura Kizito, Co-Founder and Operations Manager David Bulindah, and Communications and Fundraising Strategist Ruby Valla.
Wakulima became a fiscal partner of Seattle Parks Foundation in 2020 because their empowerment of low-income immigrants and BIPOC in the region through sustainable farming and culturally relevant services aligns with our strategic priorities: Equity, Health, Climate, and Community.
The recent expansion of Wakulima’s services over the past few years is due to the Healthy Communities and Parks Fund (HCPF), which is part of the Targeted Equity Grant Program. The grant program is funded by the voter-approved 2020-2025 King County Parks Levy. $10 million in Parks Levy proceeds were allocated to the Targeted Equity Grant Program to support projects that increase access to recreation and use of parks, open spaces, and recreational facilities in underserved areas and communities. Furthermore, projects funded by the grant program are required to work towards reducing health disparities in various underserved communities and meet the unique needs of their residents—goals that brought Wakulima’s co-founders together.
For Immigrants, By Immigrants
Wakulima was co-founded in by Kenyan immigrants David Bulindah and Dickson Njeri. The two met at a mutual friend’s dinner party in 2016, where they shared a conversation about food and their desires for better access to organic produce. That same year, they collaborated to form Wakulima. In honor of their mother tongue and the most widely used language in Africa, Bulindah and Njeri named the organization after the Kiswahili word for “farmers.”
The farm operates a five minutes’ walk away from Highline College, conveniently positioned to support the surrounding underserved immigrant communities in the area. Since their humble beginnings in 2016, they’ve added two more programs to their services. Following the success of their Farm Program, interactions with community members moved them to start a Mental Health Program, which led to the creation of a Youth Program.
Initially, Wakulima had one main focus: farming. Through their Farm Program, they empower South King County residents to tap into cultural agricultural practices, modern farming techniques, and food innovation strategies so they have the tools and experience to build successful businesses centered around healthy, sustainable, local farming and food production. Currently, the program supports 20 farmers from various countries in Africa with the space, technical support, and produce markets to create food sovereignty and economic opportunities.
As Bulindah and Njeri built deeper relationships and exchanged words with the immigrants and refugees who frequented the farm, it became clear to them that their farming initiative could expand to address another need—mental health services. Bulindah, a mental health professional himself, initiated professional relationships with Kiswahili and English-speaking therapists. Today, Wakulima connects community members of all ages to professionals who practice culturally relevant therapy. Mental health isn’t prioritized nor taken seriously in many immigrant and refugee communities due to cultural differences. Wakulima’s Mental Health Program deviates from what they’re accustomed to in an unfamiliar yet thoughtful and responsible manner.
The immigration experience can be overwhelmingly taxing on not just the immigrant themself, but their American-born children as well. More so when an immigrant and their family begin their new journey struggling with necessities such as food, shelter, clothing, transportation, and medical care—which can often be the case for refugees and those entering the country with a limited or non-existent support system. While Wakulima’s Mental Health Program makes therapy more accessible, their Youth Program invites youth, their peers, and even parents to engage in productive, supportive, and healing conversations with one another.
The Common Denominator
All three programs at Wakulima are intertwined with each other in one way or another because of the same reason: their piece of farmland in Kent Valley.
Wakulima’s farm is the common denominator that ties together the impact of all their programs. For instance, because of the farmland:
- Low-income immigrants in South King County can grow, purchase, and sell fresh produce they used in cultural dishes back in their home countries.
- Kiswahili-speaking African immigrants and their families can bond with others and develop close relationships as they gather at the farm and tend to their crops while keeping each other company.
- Children of immigrants and youth who are immigrants themselves can look forward to coordinated events and activities at the farm, create positive memories and connect with other young people with similar shared experiences.
A community resource as intentionally thorough as Wakulima heals and prevents generational traumas, physical and mental illnesses, and other extreme long-term stressors that can be linked to having a history of immigration, especially for those who live in an underserved region like South King County.
From the preservation of cultural foods to the comfort and community immigrants and their families find at the farm, Wakulima’s work with low-income immigrants residing in South King County is life changing.
Above all, not much feels better than a sense of security, unity, agency, and belonging.
Sharing is Caring
The sense of security, unity, agency, and belonging that Wakulima farmers and program participants experience isn’t reserved just for them.
Wakulima, like many other food justice-centered organizations, coordinates food drives to distribute the fresh produce farmers grow and pick in Kent. Food drives are an ideal way for the organization to branch out from their usual rotation of farm guests and introduce Wakulima to neighbors who might not even know of their existence.
But they don’t just give out food.
At any given Wakulima-run food drive, you may see guests take home flyers with information about culturally relevant mental health resources. Or you might even see a staff member working with a first-time guest to help them find a ride to an important medical appointment.
Wakulima’s support isn’t limited to what’s listed on their website or the leadership team’s job descriptions. Their priority is showing up for the immigrant community in any way possible, even if Wakulima’s programs and services aren’t being utilized.
The organization also hosts two annual festivals each year that are open to all community members! Vijana Festival takes place in the summer and is geared towards youth. In the fall, Wakulima kicks off the season with Mavuno Festival to celebrate farmers and the harvest.
Don’t want to miss the next festival? Periodically check in on their events page so you catch the announcement!
Next Steps
Wakulima has bigger and better plans in store for South King County! They have a vision of working towards owning and operating a Food Production Center, Farming and Food Business Development Center, and a Community Kitchen and Cultural Center.
The Food Production Center will serve as their primary storage, production, and distribution facility. The coop will aggregate purchase, store, and distribute farm inputs for members and will act as an integrator, collecting the output from members, undertaking manufacturing, and delivering products downstream through their marketing channels. Wakulima will make value addition one of their core focuses – transformation, packaging, distribution, and marketing of farm products (both crop and livestock).
A Farming and Food Business Development Center will provide farming and food business training, support, and enterprise incubation to aspiring entrepreneurs from the communities Wakulima serves. They’ll provide farmers and entrepreneurs with mentorship, farmland, processing and storage facilities, and marketing and distribution support.
The addition of a Community Kitchen and Cultural Center will provide a welcoming space for diverse communities to come together and share their foods, cultures, values and stories. The center will be a venue for community events, farming instruction, cooking and nutrition classes, cultural programs, and include a commercial kitchen that is accessible and affordable to the community. It’ll also serve as a knowledge center for farming, food culture, cooking and nutrition.
Save the Date: Primary Election Day, August 5
Wakulima is just one of many organizations whose work is supported by the $810 million King County Parks Levy. The levy is set to expire at the end of the year, but King County voters can vote for its renewal on August 5, 2025.
This time around, the main themes of the levy are: Maintain, Enhance, Grow & Connect. If renewed, $1.45 billion will cost homeowners $16.38 per month, only $2.50 more than what folks are currently paying for the 2020-2025 Parks Levy.
Investing in the maintenance and enhancement of outdoor open spaces creates more opportunities for community members to grow and connect with nature and each other.
Mark your calendars and set a reminder to vote on Tuesday, August 5, so critical projects like Wakulima USA continue to receive funding for the next six years!
Sources:
From Memphis and Mogadishu: The History of African Americans in King County, Washington, 1858-2014, Daudi Abe
New King County milestone: One-quarter of residents born outside U.S., Gene Balk
Emanuel Lopes (1812 – 1895), Judy Bentley
King County — Thumbnail History, Priscilla Long
The food (in)security and mental health nexus in high-risk immigrant populations in middle- and high-income countries: A scoping review, Elizabeth Onyango, Keji Mori, Binita Jirel, Destiny Otoadese
Founding of King County, Junius Rochester
Seattle metro grows faster than U.S., driven by foreign immigration, Melissa Santos, Alex Fitzpatrick
American Community Survey, King County
Demographics, King County
East African Community King County Demographics, Perinatal Support Washington
Washington Territory, Washington State Legislature