| Cheryl Chow Court Opens
A packed house of friends, family, and admirers came together in Ballard to celebrate the late Cheryl Chow and the Grand Opening of Cheryl Chow Court, LIHI's new affordable housing for seniors named in her honor.
Speakers at the opening included Seattle City Councilmember Mike O'Brien, Deputy Mayor Hyeok Kim, residents Catherine Freeman and Cleveland Harmon, Enterprise CEO Charlie Werhane, HUD Regional Director Bill Block, Cheryl Chow's family members Sarah Morningstar and Mark Chow, Bob Peterson of WSHFC, and Nate Caminos, State Director for Senator Maria Cantwell. The Raging Grannies and Jim Page performed songs of social justice.
Councilmember Mike O'Brien lauded the project and the people of Seattle saying, "Two million dollars came out of the housing levy to make this project happen and we talked about that being the Office of Housing's money, but actually that's all of your money. That money happened because of the generosity of the people of Seattle who have repeatedly voted to tax themselves because funding affordable housing is a priority, so thank you for making this possible."
On the same theme, Deputy Mayor Hyeok Kim, said "Mayor Murray has issued a challenge to identify a goal of building 50,000 units of housing over the next 10 years, 20,000 of which will be affordable housing... if we achieve that it will be a benchmark that we've never hit before in the City of Seattle."
On a more personal level, Cheryl Chow's partner Sarah Morningstar cited Cheryl's legacy of social activism, saying, "I think about Cheryl. And I think about this building. And I think about the fact that she's the spirit behind a lot of this."
And Cheryl's brother, the honorable Judge Mark Chow (who joked that Cheryl got a court named after her before he did) burned incense on the patio and said that the smoke would carry all the words and thoughts expressed to Cheryl, who would surely be smiling.
The crowd was especially touched by a poem read by resident Cleveland Harmon.
No more boxes. Today I have a key that opens a door.
My door. I have a bathroom, a shower, a blessing.
I have a bed that I can lay in.
I can close my eyes and go to sleep without being harmed.
Today I am proud to say that Cheryl Chow Court is my home.
LIHI thanks all the funders who made this wonderful project possible:
HUD
City of Seattle
Enterprise Community Investment
Banner Bank
Federal Home Loan Bank of Seattle
Washington State Housing Finance Commission
Duncan Haas & Birgit Walbaum
Sharon presented plaques to the speakers and funders that said "For the Dignity of All" in English and Chinese.
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