Spring Reflections from LRP's Director of Housing Services
by Ebo Barton, they/he
Director of Housing Services
On April 24, 2023, King County announced that Lavender Rights Project and Chief Seattle Club were awarded as joint operators of a 35-unit property in the Capitol Hill neighborhood of Seattle. And after a busy day of cameras, interviews, quotes and emails upon emails, a majority of our staff packed up to get on a plane to Dallas, Texas for the Black Trans Advocacy Conference.
LRP Staff Members Mahkyra Gaines (they/them) and Ebo Barton (they/he) at The Black Trans Advocacy Conference in Dallas, Texas
It seems that we didn’t get a chance to fully exhale and actually take in this wonderful news. But being at the Black Trans Advocacy Conference was a celebration of its very own and I remembered my humanity. Because when we get together, it is a river of knowledge, art, history, THERAPY, music, life and of course, fun. And that was our exhale: feeling seen and heard in a room full of the most beautiful bouquet of our reflections.
What I also remembered is we are not single images and or lonely stories. We are not one person with unmet exigencies of a censorious country. We are a culture and spirits with ranges of needs and wants for ourselves and our people. And we hope to bring our future tenants the services and housing elements that complement our varying necessities to not only sustain but succeed.
Coming soon, you’ll hear more about the organizations and individuals providing services to our tenants and our new Onsite House Mother! Stay tuned!
If you are a QT2BIPOC individual that wants to stay informed about tenancy at our new property opening in the fall, please visit https://tinyurl.com/LRPHouse.
If you’d like to apply for open In-House Community Counselor position (Residential onsite, Full Time, unit provided), please submit your application after reviewing the position at https://www.lavrights.org/jobs.
Ebo Barton is a Transgender and Non-Binary, Black and Filipino, Poet, Artist and Educator. Ebo has demonstrated their commitment to equitable change in which BIPOC thrive with power and purpose with their work in the Seattle Arts Community, befriending, mentoring and collaborating with youth, working for justice in health equity, trans rights, managing programs, organizing events and producing shows in the Pacific Northwest for the past 15 years. A leader in arts and activism, Ebo Barton is committed to creating opportunities for others to organize, heal and rejoice.