information from Shared Spaces Foundation
The Shared Spaces Foundation is excited to announce a major milestone in its efforts to fundraise for the Heron’s Nest, a project preserving 3.56 acres of land in the West Seattle Greenbelt for community use, stewardship, sustainable education, and repatriating it to the Duwamish people. On October 5th, the City of Seattle issued a $900,000 grant from its Strategic Investment Fund (SIF) to the Shared Spaces Foundation. These funds will allow Shared Spaces to purchase the land, serving as the first step in the repatriation process.
The Duwamish people have resided in present-day Seattle and King County since time immemorial. Where they once inhabited 50 villages in the Puget Sound area, they now own less than an acre of land and lack federal recognition. Preserving this land will increase their footprint of land access by 5x for Duwamish Tribal Services.
The Shared Spaces Foundation currently leases the 3.56-acre parcel a short walk from the Duwamish Longhouse and Cultural Center in West Seattle. This parcel was destined to become the site for a new housing complex. Now, with the help of the SIF grant, the Shared Spaces Foundation will be able to preserve the land from destructive development and allow the Heron’s Nest project to continue to restore its indigenous vegetation and ecology, improve its productive uses, and provide for public access and education. Over 5,000 hours of community volunteering has been put into the restoration efforts since early 2020.
In time, the Heron’s Nest will include the development of sustainable, community-accessible facilities including campgrounds, an outdoor kitchen, outdoor classrooms, tool libraries, an urban farm and agroforest, a recycling center, and a natural aquaculture pool. Once restored the land will be given back to the Duwamish people and be used for community benefit.
The Shared Spaces Foundation must continue its fundraising efforts in order to bring the full project to fruition. The entirety of the SIF grant will be applied toward the purchase of the land. To fund the remaining services and facilities, Shared Spaces is driving a
community-giving effort of $500,000 for materials, staffing, and operational costs. Funds raised by the end of 2021 will allow for facilities completion by the end of 2022.
In addition to further grant funding, the fundraising efforts include an upcoming holiday market at the Heron’s Nest, a recent dinner and auction held on October 16th, and utilizing the space for community events, nature viewing parties, and workshops. To learn more about the vision for the land and the scope of the project, visit: www.TheHeronsNest.org
