George: Center for Community

Specialties

George: Center for Community is a neighborhood commons and gathering space for expression, justice, & hope in Lake City. We are primarily a membership organization, comprised of a variety of non-​profits that each serve the community. Our space is also available for rental on a limited basis for events by other non-​profits or private parties.

History

Established in 2012.

St. George’s Episcopal Church originally opened in the Lake City neighborhood of Seattle in 1959. After 52 years, the church officially closed in May 2011. St. Andrew’s Episcopal Church in Seattle took on the maintenance of the building and creating a vision for the future of the site.

A design team was formed in October 2011, in order to create a vision of partnership with the surrounding community. Design team members went out into the community and talked with residents, business owners and various institutional members of the Lake City Community. The goal of these discussions was to discern the the neighbors’ dreams for their community, their concerns, and how they could see themselves living into those dreams through George. After more than 100 interviews, several themes started to emerge. From these themes, the design team made a commitment to seed 5 new programs and projects. In addition to those programs, a variety a new partners were invited to share space in partnership.