Neighborhood Leaders: Mary Fosse
This is first in a series about the volunteers that work to enhance their neighborhoods, support participation in city government and foster a greater sense of community among Everett residents.
Name: Mary Fosse
Neighborhood: Delta (The Delta Neighborhood is in the northeast corner of the city)
Number of years in your neighborhood: Over 12 years
Mary Fosse // Courtesy of Delta Neighborhood Association
What is your role in your neighborhood?
Chair of the Delta Neighborhood Association and Delta Rep on the Council of Neighborhoods.
Why did you start volunteering for your neighborhood association?
I have the greatest neighbors. They showed me the value of being a good neighbor and how rewarding a sense of community can be. I wanted to be a part of creating that on a larger scale for my neighborhood, and came to find that so many in our community felt disenfranchised or their voice wasn’t being heard.
I saw our neighborhood association as a way to create a sense of community, empower us, make this neighborhood a better place to live, and bring all our voices to the table.
Courtesy of Delta Neighborhood Association
What are the biggest rewards running the neighborhood association?
I have made so many great friendships and met so many amazing neighbors that I may have never met otherwise. I know I personally feel safer, more knowledgeable, more welcome, and have a sense of pride in where we live.
Mary and Molly // Courtesy of Delta Neighborhood Association
What are the neighborhood accomplishments you are most proud of?
Our March Neighborhood Cleanup was a great collaborative effort between Delta and the Take Back Our Neighborhood group, along with the assistance of parks, Office of Neighborhoods, other neighborhood groups, and so many volunteers. We cleaned up the Delta sign, picked up trash and needles from our parks and streets, and even turned in a gun found at Jackson Park!
We are very proud of our efforts to include and engage the diverse demographics represented in our neighborhood. You might have seen our neighborhood participating in the 4th of July Parade.
4th of July Parade // Courtesy of Delta Neighborhood Association
We have also been actively reaching out to our Hispanic community in Delta (our September meeting was completely bilingual), and our Marshallese community since Marshallese is the third most popular language spoken in Delta.
When we asked them “What barriers are stopping you from being able to participate,” their answer was childcare, so we have been working to try to make a supervised child activity space during our meetings possible.
We’ve also attracted new and younger participants to our meetings through online and social media channels (thanks Molly). We may be the first neighborhood to successfully livestream their meetings reaching an average of 65 viewers.
Bilingual Community Meeting // Courtesy of Delta Neighborhood Association
We’ve had some impressive success with our Asarco campaign so far, lobbying the city and our elected officials to secure funding to complete the cleanup of toxic levels of arsenic and lead in our neighbors’ yards and parks.
Lastly, our National Night Out event in August was pretty inspiring, thanks to a lot of collaboration, partnerships, and massive volunteer hours.
Nearly 700 neighbors attended with over 20 vendors, 960 slices of pizza, fruit, ice cream, face painting, cultural performers, music, rock painting, free bicycle helmets, and tons of prizes.
What help do you need from neighbors?
We need some more volunteers. We still need a treasurer and have some open committees, and we need help reading to kids during our meetings, moving tables before and after meetings.
If you have interests or connections to any stakeholder in our neighborhood (like schools, the college, churches, city council, etc.), we could use you as a community liaison! We can’t be at every get together or watch every meeting with so much happening in Delta, so we could use your eyes, ears and/or expertise.
Marshallese Dancers // Courtesy of Delta Neighborhood Association
When and where do meetings happen?
It’s at 7 p.m. on the third Tuesday of the Month (excluding December and August) at the Baker Community Center 1401 Poplar. We post updates on our Facebook page.
How can neighbors find out more about the neighborhood association?
Come to a meeting and/or email us to get on our newsletter email list (at deltaneighborhoodassociation@gmail.com). Please also like us on Facebook!
March Neighborhood Clean-up // Courtesy of Delta Neighborhood Association
Why do you love your neighborhood?
Not only is it beautiful with gorgeous views and lovely parks, but we have the best neighbors in town!
What is your favorite place in your neighborhood to eat?
What is your favorite place in your neighborhood to hang?
Senator Henry M. Jackson Park Community Garden
What is a hidden gem in your neighborhood?
Triangle Fruit Market Ice Cream Shop!
Banner image is courtesy of Rosemary Jones and from her Neighborhood Postcard series.
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