News

& Media

RIZP

Announcements

Catch up on the latest announcements from RIZP

NEWS & ANNOUNCEMENTS

U.S. Bank Has Donated their Skyway Way/West-Hill Branch to the Skyway Community!!!

Today we announced a partnership with King County Housing Authority and U.S. Bank that will bring a brick and mortar HUD EnVision Center to...

Join Us, We’re Celebrating the 1-Year Anniversary of the Skyway Resource Center!

Happy Anniversary! We're celebrating our 1 year anniversary with the Skyway Resource Center! We are delighted to support the Skyway/West-Hill...

Join Us! We’re Celebrating the 6-Month Anniversary of the Skyway Resource Center!

We’ve accomplished so much! Since September 2020, The Skyway Resource Center has been working hard and diligently, providing families with resources...

12,000 Families Served During COVID: The Work of the RIZP

Photo Credit: Urban Family The Renton Innovation Zone Partnership (RIZP) is a community collaborative that works to connect students and families...

#GiveBig with the RIZP!

Can we count on you? The Renton Innovation Zone Partnership is excited to be a part of something so important in this world and we would like for...

Renton Area Support Request Form

The Renton Area Support Request Form was created to assist families and students who have been affected by COVID-19. People who are sick, disabled,...

Community Collaboration: COVID-19

While our families, students and community partners continue to make the decisions that are in the best interest of their health, we strongly...

Youth Leaders Travel to Olympia For Advocacy Day!

On a cold and rainy Wednesday in January, two Youth Leadership Council Members representing the Skyway Youth Network Collaborative (SYNC) made their...

Meet Bryana Samuel, Renton School District’s Newest AmeriCorps Vista

sHailing from Silsbee, Texas, a small town with just about 6,000 people; Bryana Samuel is adjusting to her new life in Renton, WA that’s surrounded...

The millennial who’s planning to make a huge difference in the non-profit sector

From marketing to training, to building community relationships, to assisting with the implementation of new programs, MyKa’La works hard and...

Articles

The collaboration, planning and expansion of community services for children and families in the Renton Innovation Zone Partnership to date would not have been possible without the generous financial support from The Ballmer Group, Boeing and the Renton Regional Community Foundation.

Renton Innovation Zone Inspired by West Hill Now! Initiative

Leading for Equity and “Getting Results”

Creating Healthy Learning Opportunities

Renton Schools Awarded for Improvements

RIZP

Reports

SKYWAY RESOURCE CENTER

Reports

press

OLD U.S. BANK BUILDING IN SKYWAY SET TO BECOME HUD ENVISION CENTER - South Seattle Emerald - October 8, 2021

A new HUD EnVision Center is set to open in the old U.S. Bank building in Skyway in 2023 — providing connections to economic, health, and other resources — after U.S. Bank donated the land and the building to the King County Housing Authority (KCHA).

The space, which will be known as the Skyway Resource Center and is located at 12610 76th Ave. S., will replace and expand on the existing mobile resource center the Renton Innovation Zone Partnership (RIZP) launched roughly a year ago to provide resources during the pandemic.

Renton Innovation Zone Partnership Receives $50,000 for Skyway/West Hill Youth - August 19, 2021 - South Seattle Emerald

From the U.S. Bank Foundation: “On Aug. 17, 2021, the U.S. Bank Foundation announced a $50,000 grant award to the Renton Innovation Zone Partnership (RIZP), an organization that serves students, parents, and families who reside in the Renton Innovation Zone by leading a ‘relationship-based, data-informed collaborativenetwork to advance racial equity and create healthy learning opportunities for all children.’

“The $50,000 grant will fund a new immersion program for Title 1 elementary and middle school students in the Skyway/West Hill neighborhoods, an unincorporated section of King County with limited resources. The program will kick-off this fall with a series of 10 events designed to get students in front of career, education, and economic opportunities they would not otherwise have exposure to in the Skyway neighborhood, covering the industries of STEM, health care, construction/trades, transportation, arts, food/entertainment, government, and business.

Renton Innovation Zone Partnership Receives $50,000 for Skyway/West Hill Youth - August 19, 2021 - South Seattle Emerald

From the U.S. Bank Foundation: “On Aug. 17, 2021, the U.S. Bank Foundation announced a $50,000 grant award to the Renton Innovation Zone Partnership (RIZP), an organization that serves students, parents, and families who reside in the Renton Innovation Zone by leading a ‘relationship-based, data-informed collaborativenetwork to advance racial equity and create healthy learning opportunities for all children.’

“The $50,000 grant will fund a new immersion program for Title 1 elementary and middle school students in the Skyway/West Hill neighborhoods, an unincorporated section of King County with limited resources. The program will kick-off this fall with a series of 10 events designed to get students in front of career, education, and economic opportunities they would not otherwise have exposure to in the Skyway neighborhood, covering the industries of STEM, health care, construction/trades, transportation, arts, food/entertainment, government, and business.

New Skyway Resource Center receives national designation - October 19, 2020- The Renton Reporter

The center was established with support of Renton Innovation Zone Partnership and the Renton School District.

For years, the Skyway community has been asking King County to bring more social and human services into the neighborhood. The unincorporated area, which makes up the greater West Hill, does not belong to Seattle, Renton or Tukwila, yet its residents have to travel to one of these three cities to obtain vital services.

On Oct. 16, the Skyway community celebrated the Skyway Resource Center as a designation for a new HUD EnVision Center. The U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) announced earlier that week that the newly-opened Skyway Resource Center had been designated as the second HUD EnVision Center in Washington State. It’s one of the first EnVision Centers to use a pop-up pilot model to deliver social services and basic needs to the Skyway/West-Hill community, according to a press release.

WASHINGTON STATE’S SECOND HUD ENVISION CENTER OPENS IN SKYWAY - October 17, 2020- South Seattle Emerald

On Friday, Oct. 16, members of the Skyway community and government officials gathered to celebrate the designation of the second U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) EnVision Center in Washington State, which is set to provide resources for residents in Skyway.

Building off of the Skyway Resource Center Pop-Up at 12643 Renton Ave. S., which the Renton Innovation Zone Partnership, the Renton School District, and King County departments opened in early September, the EnVision Center will continue providing social services to visitors as well as resources such as personal protective equipment, access to health insurance enrollment, and information on and referrals to behavioral health and housing resources, among many other offerings.

Community groups in Skyway host a pop-up resource center to provide support to families - October 16, 2020- KNKX Public Radio

People in Skyway, southeast of Seattle and one of King County’s most racially diverse areas, have long pushed for their own community center. Now there are signs they’re making progress.

During the pandemic, nonprofits and social service groups have come together for what they call a pop-up resource center in Skyway.

FOOD AND HOUSING RESOURCE POP-UP OPENS IN SKYWAY - September 4, 2020- South Seattle Emerald

A free, multi-service resource center hosted by Renton Innovation Zone Partnership will be stationed at 12643 Renton Ave. S.on Sept. 4, Sept. 18, and three dates in October, to provide Skyway residents with housing assistance, school supplies, and food resources, among other things.

“The first positive outcome of this is that the community gets to use the resources they’ve been asking for,” said Cherryl Jackson-Williams, Family & Community Engagement Coordinator for the Renton Innovation Zone/ Renton School District. The second? “That they also feel that we’ve taken their requests seriously.”

COMMUNITY COLLECTIVE PROVIDING STUDENTS AND FAMILIES IN RENTON AND SKYWAY WITH RESOURCES DURING COVID-19 - July 2nd 2020, South Seattle Emerald

The Renton Innovation Zone Partnership (RIZP) has emerged as an amazing community collective that works to support families in Skyway, West Hill, and the Renton Highlands with basic needs, early learning opportunities, and community and family engagement resources.

One major way RIZP has pivoted to support their communities is by starting a series of food pantries in Renton and Skyway. These pantries, which occur every Tuesday and Saturday, provide residents in the RIZ with free essentials such as food, masks, and diapers. In some cases, these pantries have encouraged communities to come together and even led to new volunteers joining RIZP.

Local groups pull together to support 12,000 families during pandemic - July 2nd 2020, Renton Reporter

Renton Innovation Zone Partnership hit the ground running, working with several organizations to help vulnerable Skyway and Highlands families with food, masks and more.

Just as schools were about to shutdown for what ended up being the rest of the year, the RIZP had it’s most-attended meeting ever for its Basic Needs Action Team. It gave the groups involved with RIZP the ability to create a foundation for what would be the multiple supports for families in Skyway and the Highlands— some being hit hardest during this pandemic.

Pop-up Food Pantries and COVID-19 Resources - June, 2020, West Hill Community Association

It’s important for our families to feel supported, especially during this unprecedented time. Before COVID-19 forced the stay at home order, many families in Skyway were already struggling to put food on the table. Now with many job cuts, school closures and restaurants closing, our families are experiencing an exponential need in food resources and essential basic needs

AMERICORPS VOLUNTEERS PUT A SPOTLIGHT ON COMMUNITY ORGANIZATIONS - May 2020, City of Renton

A team of AmeriCorps VISTA volunteers serving the Renton area this year are putting a spotlight on organizations and groups who do good for our community every day! This week, the light is on the Renton Innovation Zone Partnership.

With the Coronavirus pandemic, they have expanded their efforts to provide relief for the many families experiencing hardship. Their work is multi-faceted as they facilitate programs, advocate for resources, and bring organizations together to help solve problems.

PARTNERSHIP TACKLES OPPORTUNITY GAPS FACING SKYWAY YOUTH- December 13, 2019- South Seattle Emerald

The Renton Innovation Zone Partnership, or RIZP, started as an idea at a meeting of the Renton School District and other community partners in 2017. Over the months, that idea bloomed and developed into a solid plan, which was presented in the summer of 2018, alongside three action teams tasked with addressing community needs. These teams focus on early learning, basic needs, and community and family engagement.

A partnership to help students in need-October 15, 2019-The Renton Reporter

Needs in Renton Innovation Zone (RIZ) schools are increasing, as displacement causes greater concern for student’s families. At Lakeridge, Campbell Hill, Bryn Mawr and Highlands elementary schools, there’s at least 105 homeless students, as defined by the McKinney Vento Homeless Assistance Act, 8 percent of the schools’ population.

In part because of this need, the Renton School District’s RIZ strategy is expanding with a new partnership to address students’ education and well-being when off school grounds.

Videos

RIZP Talks Partnerships: Assistant Director, Jasmine RaeLynn, Renton LIVE! Episode 21, September 9, 2020- The Renton Chamber of Commerce

Conversation with Ryan Quigtar, Executive Director of Renton Innovation Zone Partnership (RIZP)

“Renton Regional Community Foundation – Non Profit Partners”

“A Place Called RIZ”