Get involved: contact Skye Schell at (206) 905-6891 or sschell@forterra.org.

Forterra’s Community Stewards program empowers local residents to create great communities together, by advocating for good transportation, land-use and housing planning or building on-the-ground projects like new community gardens.

With 1.5 million people projected to move into the region in the next 30 years, we must focus growth into cities. By creating great cities and towns, we can attract future residents into cities and reduce impacts associated with the paving over of our wild lands, improve public health by creating more walkable communities with accessible green spaces and parks.

By becoming involved and defining how we want our communities to grow and prosper, we can create great neighborhoods and shape the future of our built environment for generations to come.

We work with residents to identify how to incorporate growth well – with public amenities like sidewalks, trails, parks, and convenient shopping. Community Stewards then provide the “yes” voice for good policies, plans and projects that make cities more compact, vibrant and livable.

Community Stewards mobilize, educate and train other community volunteers of all ages in their communities to shape local decisions about future growth, and kick-start projects that add to the social fabric of their communities.

How Forterra Supports Community Stewards

Forterra launches Community Stewards programs in cities with an educational workshop about how to proactively engage in the planning process. We then follow up with more advanced organizing training for interested leaders in the community.

Forterra provides an organizational structure, communication tools, and ongoing technical staff support and training. Community Stewards have the tools, abilities and support necessary to take action on planning issues or new projects of their choosing and successfully guide their neighborhoods toward a “complete, compact and connected” future.

Tukwila: A New Community Garden

We launched the Community Stewards program in Tukwila with a "Taking Action" workshop in January 2010. In a follow-up training, residents identified access to healthy food as a key community need.
Working in partnership with the International Rescue Committee (IRC), teachers at Foster High School, UW students and other partners, Forterra helped organized, design and build “Namaste Community Garden” on the grounds of St. Thomas Parish. The garden serves refugee families from Burma and Bhutan along with other community members. We broke ground in April 2011 and had a successful spring and summer building the garden, tilling the land, planting, growing and finally harvesting fresh produce in the fall.

Get involved!

• Apply for a plot: talk to Donna at St Thomas at 4415 S. 140th St, Tukwila WA (Monday-Friday, 9am-3:30pm)
• “Like” the garden’s Facebook page
• Volunteer to grow for the church’s food bank, or teach new gardeners how to be successful once they start

Issaquah: Influencing a 900-acre Plan

Forterra launched the Community Stewards program in Issaquah with a "Taking Action in Issaquah" workshop in November 2009, and has been engaging community members in the city’s “Central Issaquah Plan.” The Plan is the city’s vision for 900 acres of the valley floor along I-90. Forterra and Community Stewards are campaigning to make sure the plan includes appropriate density, good transportation choices, safe pedestrian and bike infrastructure, affordable housing, parks and green infrastructure. Forterra has hosted a “smart growth” movie night (in conjunction with the City), two bike rides, and a series of community meetings about these topics.

• Get involved: join our group and make sure the City Council includes the pieces that will make Central Issaquah a great place to live

Edmonds: Passing a Complete Streets Law

Forterra launched Community Stewards in Edmonds and Shoreline in May 2010 with a "Complete Streets" kickoff. Over the course of 2010, we held organizing sessions that provided advanced training in campaigning and recruiting, supported community members in both cities as they campaigned for the next level of city involvement or investment in complete streets, established organizing and campaigning strategies, and more.

Working in partnership with Cascade Bicycle Club, FeetFirst,Transportation Choices Coalition and the Edmonds Bicycle Club, we helped engage citizens and city officials. The Community Stewards work proved successful and in June 2011, Edmonds Mayor Mike Cooper signed the Complete Streets ordinance which requires all future transportation projects to provide appropriate accommodation for pedestrians, bicyclists, transit users and persons of all abilities.

Kirkland: Supporting Transit-Oriented Development

We started the Kirkland program with a "Taking Action" workshop in March 2010. Thirty citizens came for a series of presentations and discussions focused on becoming empowered to make positive change for smart planning in the city.
In the next year, Forterra and Community Stewards worked to support zoning changes to allow transit-oriented development and affordable housing at the South Kirkland Park and Ride. Forterra staff hosted a small neighborhood forum, led an assembly and trained students in an urban planning class at neighboring East Side Preparatory School.

Kirkland City Council unanimously approved the rezone in June 2011. The new project will allow for truly affordable housing by reducing transportation costs, the second largest household expense. It will also allow more people to live near transit and take advantage of our public investment in the bus system.

Tacoma: Starting New Community Gardens

The first Community Stewards program started in Tacoma in 2009. Since then, group members have advocated for mixed-use center and “Complete Streets” policies, worked with the City to keep an important habitat corridor in the Dome District from being blocked and started new community gardens in the city. Momentum from Community Stewards helped convince city leadership to create a city-wide Community Garden Manager and create a number of new community gardens on city land.