By Aaron Allen, The Seattle Medium
After a renovation project that took about a year and a half to complete, Byrd Barr Place has opened its doors with a new look and some innovative changes to the services that they provide to the community.
Located just off of 18th and Cherry in Seattle’s Central Area, Byrd Barr Place, formerly knows as the Central Area Motivation Program (CAMP), has helped Black families and Central Area residents overcome racial restrictive covenants and discrimination since 1964.
Byrd Barr Place’s new design is a simplistic, open and inviting new facility. The design boasts some of the original structures and beams from the 114-year-old building yet shows off some of its modern amenities.
As you enter the historic fire house building, there is a large community gathering room to your right and reception area immediately in front of you. The “market’, formerly known as the food bank, is also housed on the first floor and it too has an open, inviting, and spacious environment. The upstairs of the building houses the administrative offices and is very well-lit as the sun shines through its large windowpanes.
With its new look, Byrd Barr Place continues to serve the community through its programs like their energy assistance program, eviction prevention program and a financial literacy program to name of few.
In addition, the organization has re-imagined how to deliver its services to some of the communities most vulnerable citizens. Specifically, as it relates to the food bank or “The Market” as they call it at Byrd Barr Place, they’ve transformed this vital service to a much more inviting experience that allows people to receive groceries while maintaining their dignity. Gone are the days of waiting in line with hundreds of other people and walking through the food bank while receiving “rations of food.” Now, people can casually walk through and pick out the things that they want and need.
“We are trying to direct a little bit away from some of the mindsets that come with food banks in terms of lining up, or buffet style, not getting to choose what foods you’re getting,” says Tafari Maynard, Director of Operations of the Byrd Barr Place, who oversees the food bank. “Rather, we are going in the direction of giving you a market, a grocery market experience where you come in, take your time choosing what items you like, instead of the traditional food bank way of doing things.”
Maynard believes that all people deserve to be treated with dignity and that this new approach will also define the mental space that their clients are in and help them get back on their feet a little sooner.
“I think this is about dignity when it comes to folks receiving services,” says Maynard. “We have all heard that saying ‘beggars can’t be choosers.’ We all heard that so much that it is ingrained to a degree in some of our systems and I believe that to be wrong.”
“I believe that just because you’re going through a hard period or you are in a lower economic bracket you still deserve choice,” Maynard continued. “You still deserve that human aspect of being able to enjoy something, being able to enjoy that thing you choose over something you may not choose and so for this reason this is so important as it emphasizes that sense of dignity.”
The mental aspect that Byrd Barr Place is trying to define as it relates to clients receiving their services is not limited to its food bank, as the organization is finding that providing a more robust and inviting environment will help more people from the growing population of those living under the poverty level in the area will utilize their services.
“So much of the Seattle population is under the poverty level,” says Maynard. “And we do not have nearly the clientele as I think we could have or should have. Obviously, one has to have the time, you have to have the access and transportation to be able to come over here and get your food and so many of Barr’s original demographics and even the neighborhood demographics has been shifting so much that a lot of our original clientele can’t even make here.”
Even though the name has change, Byrd Barr Place continues its long-standing tradition of giving and providing to our vulnerable citizens and has opened its new doors to the community with welcoming arms.
“Come on by, all are welcome here,” says Maynard. “Whether you need the food or whether to utilize the community center, this is a home, this has been a home since 1964. It is a historically Black institution in a historically Black neighborhood and despite our demographics shifting as I said, this is still a historically Black neighborhood, and all people are welcome in this space.”
