We expected Saturday’s event outside the Mukai farmhouse to draw a crowd of islanders concerned about the situation at the historic site and supportive of the Friends of Mukai’s efforts. What we didn’t expect was the impressive slate of county and state officials who also attended.
Beginning next Tuesday, islanders can get help accessing a full slate of social services at a new office in Vashon town.
About 200 people showed at the Mukai farmhouse and garden on Saturday for an event organized to rally support for revitalizing the historic site.
DoVE director Elizabeth Archambault has heard countless stories of domestic violence, but even she took pause, she said, when she watched the eye-opening TED Talk “Why Domestic Violence Victims Don’t Leave.” In the online video, Leslie Morgan Steiner, a well-spoken, Harvard-educated woman, details how she fell into a trap of domestic violence and why she and women like her have a hard time getting out.
Several organizations concerned about the state of the Mukai farmhouse and garden hope a large gathering outside the historic site this weekend will help draw attention to the property, which they say is not being properly preserved.
Vashon’s anti-domestic violence program has seen its number of clients grow significantly this year, prompting organizers to beef up fundraising efforts for services they say are critical for many islanders.
Craft3, the organization that will administer loans for septic system work for islanders in Vashon’s Marine Recovery Areas, will also begin working with islanders to see that more homes have their systems inspected.
Several islanders threw their hats into the political ring last week, filing with King County Elections to run for various elected posts on Vashon
The Vashon Schools Foundation has extended its fundraising deadline, hoping to raise at least $100,000 more in order to stave off painful cuts at the school district.
In February, an editorial in this very spot in the paper reflected on how Vashon had been hard hit by three recent deaths of young people — Palmer Burk, India Castle and Ryan Krug. It’s hard to believe that just three months later, we’re adding another name to that list. While the death of 20-year-old Samantha Burkart is certainly a tragedy in itself, many islanders are noting that it also seems to cap a shocking and inexplicable string of deaths of islanders in their teens or 20s.
Several Vashon merchants are taking measures to improve security at their businesses following a string of commercial break-ins earlier this month.
Vashon leaders, stunned by the recent death of a 2010 Vashon High School graduate, the fourth such tragedy in recent months, have organized an event they say they hope will help the community heal.
The body of a missing Vashon woman was found Wednesday evening in Burton.
