Photo credit: Figtree. Photo beside Linda Lauch shows site near People's Park for the new center's home
Linda Lauch, Executive Director of the American Indian Community Center, spoke with the Figtree about the AICC's forever home project. Spokane Alliance's Truth and Transformation team is working with the AICC to help raise funds for their construction at People's Park, in Spokane.
Read the story here, at the Figtree.
image credit: Kerra Bower
Kerra Bower's dream is to dismantle the preschool-to-prison pipeline. She discussed the opening of Raze Early Learning and Development Center with the Figtree.
"Raze will be a safe place for students to explore the beauty of our shared experiences as Americans through the Black American lens," she explained. "We seek to eradicate stereotypes that perpetuate the preschool-to-prison pipeline by centering our program on student identity and uplifting Black history contributions, both locally and nationally."
Raze will also offer wrap around services, leaning into the "it takes a village to raise a child" approach.
Read more about Kerra's work, her village, and Raze here
Laurel Fish, senior organizer with the Spokane Alliance, knows that many solutions to issues people face are not realized because people lack the social and political will and skills as individuals to enact policy changes on their own.
The Spokane Alliance gathers people in faith communities, labor unions and community organizations like nonprofits and childcare providers to share and listen to each other's stories and concerns—on healthcare, housing, homelessness, childcare and other issues. In the process, they identify common threads for working and acting together so they have an impact.
By Emry Dinman at the Spokesman-Review
"If approved next week by the City Council, contractors bidding to build Spokane’s city roads, facilities and other public infrastructure projects of at least $5 million may soon have to show that a quarter of the project’s labor will come from underrepresented or impoverished communities living in the city, as well as provide healthcare and other benefits."
read more about the upcoming vote August 25, 2025, and the debate about the ordinance on here.
KXLY local Interviewed our Senior Organizer, Laurel Fish, and several others about the Public Dollars for Public Benefit Ordinance; an ordinance the Spokane City council is considering. Spokane Alliance is working to help secure this ordinance to ensure fair working conditions and create job opportunities for local workers.
Spokane City Council could require contractors on major public works projects to sign union agreements and hire economically disadvantaged workers
Mayor Lisa Brown introduced four new initiatives that aim to ease hurdles for developers building affordable housing.
Partners in affordable housing joined the City of Spokane on Monday, July 7th, to support the proposed initiative designed to streamline building affordable housing, and to celebrate the progress already made.
Spokane Alliance was honored to be recognized for our HEART campaign by the proposed renaming of the 1590 fund to the Housing Equity and Attainable Residences Trust - the HEART fund.
The Spokane Alliance, alongside City Councilmembers Paul Dillon and Zack Zappone, are backing the "Public Dollars for Public Benefit Ordinance" to ensure city funds allocated for public infrastructure benefit the local workforce and community.
For more info - see the article at KHQ here.