Tag: HPIC updates

Thank You to Outgoing Board Members

Thank You to outgoing board members

Rhonda Smith

Rhonda has been a member of HPIC since 2007 and has also had on and off roles with HPIC over her tenure. She stepped in for a second stint as president during a critical time — for the community and for the Board — after the fire.  She has been an absolute force for HPIC. She led the charge on a complete overhaul of the board and its activities, and programming events, as well as helping transition the board to its current form. 

Rhonda has been an incredible leader who has significantly helped honor HPIC’s past while opening the doors for the change and growth that HPIC is currently experiencing.

Julie Schickling

Julie has been a part of HPIC since 2008 and on/off the board since 2009. In the past few years, she has been our secretary, finance, communications, branding, grant writer, and tech committee all in one.  She, Rhonda and Nickie all had a hand in helping transition HPIC to a 501.c3 – but Julie took on the nitty gritty details with handling the IRS during that transition. She is incredibly versatile, was the lead visionary in creating the Corner Bar. 

Portrait of Julie Schickling

Nickie JOstol

Nickie has been a part of HPIC and on the board since 2009. She is incredibly passionate and a true advocate for HPIC. She has brought her creativity and passion to the many events she helped organize. As an example of her dedication, during COVID,  Nickie went door to door to help ensure all parts of our community had access to and awareness of the COVID vaccine, putting herself at great personal risk.

Funding for the demo from Seattle Department of neighborhoods

Funding for the demo from Seattle Department of neighborhoods

We are gratified to report that HPIC has been awarded a $50,000 grant through the Seattle Department of Neighborhoods Community Partnership Fund. It was a very competitive application process and we are honored to have been selected. The grant is toward funding the building demolition, and also site preparation to make the property safe for community events in the interim after the damaged building has been removed and before construction on the new building begins.

The Department of Neighborhoods has been supportive of HPIC through a series of challenges, starting with the pandemic, when we were granted about $27k to renovate the space while the building was closed. But then the fire happened – before we could reopen – and also before we had spent the bulk of the grant money (thanks to our amazing skilled volunteers). Department of Neighborhoods, with the help of our project manager Juan Martinez, allowed us to repurpose the grant for community engagement activities, to help us stay relevant in the community. That grant funded the 2022 Reset Fest, off-site Corner Bars and more. The Department of Neighborhoods is a vital resource in helping HPIC stay connected to our community.

The New Generation of the HPIC Board

The New Generation of the HPIC Board

We are proud and honored to introduce these advocates of community in our neighborhood who have joined the team to rebuild HPIC. They bring vital new energy and vision to the rebuild, and to the future of HPIC.

New HPIC Board members are sworn in

From left to right: Ellen Powers, Amy Durgin, Nick Montrond, Adrien Demelier, Alex Wheeler, Silva Ianev and Rachel Chernin. Leading the ceremony is Martha Mallett, right foreground, long-time HPIC board member who kept HPIC alive by reaching out to the neighborhood at another challenging time in its history, in the early 2000’s.

Current board members who remain: Rhonda Smith, President; Shannon Harris, Julie Schickling, Kay Kirkpatrick, Billy Stauffer and Nickie Jostol.

Together, with so many of our neighbors and supporters through the years and into the future, we will bring back our community gathering place.

We are thankful for the many years of dedicated service given by departing board members Gretchen Heiden, Billy Markham and Shawn Mazza.