Community Impact
Mētis is proud to have worked on important civic projects that have made an impact on the broader Seattle community.
At the beginning of the COVID-19 pandemic, Mētis partnered with the Low Income Housing Institute (LIHI) and our staff built Tiny Houses to be used in Tiny House Villages in the community. Tiny House Villages allow previously homeless residents to reclaim their dignity and get on a path to permanent housing, employment and connection to supportive services. In February 2023 we hosted student volunteers to build Tiny Houses from the Summit Sierra School’s mentorship program.
Mētis also worked with LIHI to repurpose existing apartment buildings to use for low income housing. Mētis remodeled and transformed apartments and common areas in the Clay Apartments and Salmonberry Loft buildings. Clay houses homeless veterans, singles and couples, and Salmonberry houses homeless Native Americans.
Mētis partnered with James Beard Award Semifinalist Chef Kristi Brown to build Communion Restaurant & Bar in the redeveloped Liberty Bank Building. The project was part of the initiative by Africatown and Community Roots Housing to battle the rapid gentrification of the 23rd & Union intersection in Seattle’s Central District. Liberty Bank originally opened in May 1968 as the first Black-owned bank west of the Mississippi, founded as a community response to redlining and disinvestment in Central Seattle. For 20 years the bank represented resilience and empowerment and stood as an example of a community’s solution to systematic, institutional racism.
Mētis has recently been awarded two ambitious community projects, the Highland Park Improvement Club Rebuild (new construction on the site of the current fire-damaged facility) and the new Vashon Island Food Bank.
Each year Mētis also donates funds and volunteer labor to local community organizations. Below are the 2022 recipients:
Sawhorse Revolution whose mission is to foster confident, community-oriented youth through the power of carpentry and craft.
Building Trades Pathway at Interagency whose mission is to provide Seattle Public School students with the foundational skills needed to earn an industry recognized pre-apprenticeship certification that will then allow students to pursue an apprenticeship in a construction trade such as carpentry, electrical, plumbing, etc.
Lambert House whose mission is to empower lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, and questioning youth through the development of leadership, social, and life skills.
Mary’s Place whose mission is to ensure that no child sleeps outside by centering equity and opportunity for women and families.
