Community Roots Housing and the Community Roots Housing Foundation are both led by volunteer boards made up of individuals passionate about supporting our neighborhoods and those neighbors in need. We chatted with each board member to learn what they enjoy most about working on the board as well as what being a good neighbor means to them.
Read about Foundation Board President Margaret Pak Enslow here.
Stan Baty | Vice President
Why did you join the board?
I joined the board to help out and be involved in our local community.
What does being a good neighbor mean to you?
A good neighbor is someone helps out their fellow neighbor.
Cassandra Mitchell | Secretary
Why is Community Roots Housing’s work important to you?
I joined Community Roots Housing’s board because I believe in the mission: helping low and moderate income families access affordable housing. While minimum wage is $15 in Seattle, individuals and families cannot afford market rate rents. Community Roots provides these same families with a home they can afford and helps them build towards economic stability.
What does being a good neighbor mean to you?
A good neighbor means respecting and valuing your community and your neighbors.
Josephine Wong | Treasurer
Why did you join the board?
I joined the board because I feel that it is important to help the people who work in Seattle stay in Seattle. Having affordable units in our city/region is the cornerstone of building a community. This is important for me as I am a Capitol Hill resident since 2003, and this is my neighborhood, my city, my community.
What does being a good neighbor mean to you?
We need to be lifting up each other every chance we get! We need to lead with humility and be considerate. We need to come together and not be dismissive of others. Being a good neighbor means we know what our own biases are. We need to work with the businesses big and small because a community is only as good as when we are respectful and listen to each other. We come together to solve problems and focus on the people who inherently makes up our neighbors and our business owners.
Deirdre Doyle | Immediate Past President
Why is Community Roots Housing’s work important to you?
I believe in the mission of Community Roots and feel it is important for all people regardless of race, ethnicity, gender, class to have full access to the city in which they live, work, play, and thrive. I love that the buildings are carefully curated to quietly exist within the communities they were built, whether that was in the early 1900s or in the past 20 years.
What does being a good neighbor mean to you?
Being involved, compassionate, engaged, welcoming, and receptive.
Anand Balasubrahmanyan
Why did you join the board?
I joined the board because I think that affordable housing is essential for a city and society to function. I respect how Community Roots Housing partners with community members to create neighborhoods where people from different income levels can access quality schools, transportation, and healthcare.
What does being a good neighbor mean to you?
Being a good neighbor means listening and learning from the people around me so we can make empathetic decisions about how we spend our lives.
Frank Houston
Why is Community Roots Housing’s work important to you?
Housing affordability is a real problem in Seattle. As gentrification occurs around the city and rents become unaffordable to people of moderate means, long-standing communities of people are forced to move out of the city to places where they can better afford a place to live. People have to leave familiar places, churches to which they have belonged, neighbors they know, and other connections to where their communities have lived for generations. This leaves a city populated by the wealthy class while people who serve them live far away and commute long distances to serve them, teach their children, and work in the city’s essential services. This is not sustainable. Community Roots Housing is part of the fabric of organizations that is working to minimize the effects of this phenomena, and it is for these reasons that I joined the board and contribute my time and resources to the organization.
What does being a good neighbor mean to you?
Being involved in activities that benefit the community and the lives of people that live here. Working hard to make Seattle a city that is diverse, fair, just, environmentally sustainable and safe for all of our people. Giving money to causes in which we believe. Reaching out to people when our community is stressed
Jeff Reibman
Why is Community Roots Housing’s work important to you?
My professional work focuses on affordable and workforce housing. I was already very aware of Community Roots Housing’s work when a friend and existing board member asked me about joining. It was a natural extension of my existing engagement and my personal value of supporting more diverse, affordable, and community-engaged housing options in Seattle.
What does being a good neighbor mean to you?
Being a good neighbor means not only contributing positively to your community but also recognizing the values and contributions of others. We all need to apply the very broadest possible definition of community to our work and our sense of place. We need to actively confront and break down barriers that have existed for generations and that too many of us just accept so that we can help create a more diverse and equitable city.
