Sea Mar CHC - Community and Social Services

Community HealthCorps members participate in service projects in partnership with various community organizations throughout the year. Some of our projects include:

Fiestas Patrias, held annually in September, is a multi-day celebration of Mexican and Latin American independence and heritage. Sea Mar sponsors Fiestas Patrias annually as a means of educating the public, reinforcing cultural pride, and sharing cultural traditions with other communities. In September, Seattle Community HealthCorps members, along with Sea Mar staff and patients, enjoy a parade through the South Park neighborhood in Seattle. Later, there is a larger celebration at the Seattle Center which includes folkloric dancers, mariachi and other bands, crafts, food, clowns, games and health services and information. The HealthCorps team participates in the parade as well as the health-related activities in the Seattle Center.

Community Service Projects
Community HealthCorps members perform bi-monthly community-service projects with various partner organizations including: Duwamish River Cleanup Coalition, Marra Farm, Just Health Action, St. Vincent De Paul Food Bank, Providence Regina House Food Bank and Habitat for Humanity.

MLK Day—"a day ON, not a day OFF"
Every year Sea Mar HealthCorps members, along with thousands of Americans, celebrate and honor the life and work of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., by serving in their communities to help commemorate his birthday.

One of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.'s, life goals was to forge common ground on which people from all walks of life could join together as equals to address important community issues. He realized that service was the great equalizer. Thus, he once said, "Everybody can be great, because everybody can serve."

Past MLK Day projects include:

• creating a mural with youth in a residential drug and alcohol treatment center;
• working with the South Park community on a graffiti paint-out and neighborhood clean-up project;
• conducting an annual food drive; in 2009, our team and100 volunteers collected over 3000 lbs of food and baby supplies, and 91 packages of diapers for our local food bank