Even as we maintain social distancing during the effort to stop the spread of coronavirus, the SHA community – tenants, staff and partners – are finding ways to help each other. If you know of stories about people helping meet the needs or lift the spirits of others, let us know and we’ll share them. Email Brittney Nitta-Lee, editor of The Voice. Thanks to everyone for acts of kindness large and small throughout our SHA community.

Fort Lawton Place resident uses technology to connect with neighbors 

SHA resident Diane Berger wanted a way to be able to share helpful news and resources with her neighbors at Fort Lawton Place while safely practicing social distancing. With her background in journalism and current work as a freelance editor, Berger created the Fort Lawton News, an e-newsletter that is sent to the Fort Lawton community. She also prints out a few copies for those who do not have access to the internet.

“I started the newsletter because I had this idea that since people wouldn’t be getting together...there wouldn’t be a way of finding out informally of what was going on in the building. It was a good way to keep them informed,” said Berger.

Aside from sharing resources from news articles that would be helpful to her neighbors, she also writes stories about residents in her community as well as SHA staff.

“The feedback that I’ve gotten from the residents is just really super positive. This newsletter helps maintain or build community in our building,” said Berger.

Diane recently ran a heartfelt letter in the newsletter about their former Property Manager, Salim Ali who is also part of the SHA JobLink Program.

“Dear Fort Lawton Neighbors,

Sadly, we're going to be losing our dear onsite manager, Salim Ali. After 18 months holding down the fort here, namely Fort Lawton, Salim will be moving on to a different position within SHA, as a "vacate technician" within the Maintenance Department. His last official day will be this Thursday, June 11, though he could be back to train his replacement. His new position will allow Salim to continue moving up in responsibility and pay, something not open to him within the management team without a college degree. But the main reason for his move, he said, is to be closer to home. Not only because of the commute, he had been strongly wishing to be more available to his family, for example by driving his kids to school in the near future. 

As many of you know, Salim was born and raised in Kenya, leaving for Saudia Arabia at the age of 20 where he worked in a coffee shop. After about four years he made the shift to Dubai where he was a lifeguard at a waterpark for several years. This is where he met his wife-to-be, whose family lived practically around the corner from his old neighborhood back in Kenya. With both families' blessings, the two married, then had their first child. Salim's wife had long before become a US citizen. This enabled Salim to immigrate to the US soon after their daughter's birth, arriving in Seattle in 2016. 

Salim clearly adores his wife, saying, "she opened my eyes." When I asked if he meant she was able to teach him about America and its culture, he adamantly reiterated, "She opened my eyes to everything!" And now they have three children, beautiful ones--maybe Salim will show you photos.

Salim said he is going to truly miss the residents here. "From the first moment I came here, they've always been nice to me, welcoming me with their two hands. Now I'm leaving with tears in my eyes. It's sad." He's been so open to learning from elders and spoke of how much he's appreciated that. As an example, one thing that's really stuck with Salim is what he learned from previous resident, Bill, about parenting in America. Bill told him to use equal parts discipline and love, saying that if you use only discipline your children will abandon you. If you use only love with no discipline, they won't be able to hold up and will eventually leave you that way, too. 

Speaking of love, I think many, if not most, of us have grown to love Salim for his rather big heart. And his intelligence, sense of fairness, common sense, view of the big picture, true caring and helpfulness. Now Salim is going off to share these qualities and more, with a new set of folks. We wish him well.”