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March is Women's History Month!


During this year’s Women’s History Month, The Garage wants to restate the importance of gender equality to our vision as an organization. We strive to celebrate this month through a lens of intersectionality. The inclusion of women of color, disabled women, transgender women, and queer women is how The Garage aims to lead our community by example. We are continuously learning and collaborating to make our organization as empowering as possible, and are so excited to continue this journey with the people of Issaquah and beyond.

“Women are fierce — we break barriers, run companies, make scientific discoveries, raise families, and lift each other up. But the fact is, discriminatory policies blocked women from fully participating in our country for generations. It led to disparities in wages, representation and opportunities that we are still tackling. Though we have more Native women serving in Congress, a woman of color in the vice president’s office, and women making moves across the country, we still have to recognize that the disadvantages that we face are created by a system designed to keep us out, and that, coupled with systemic racism, makes Women’s History Month all the more important.”

-Deb Haaland, United States Secretary of the Interior


Brenna Moore
Program Coordinator
The Garage, a Teen Cafe

February is Black History Month!


This February, the Garage recognizes Black History Month as a time to honor the legacy of Black community leaders and to continue supporting Black and Brown youth.

Since December of 2022, The Garage has been partnering with Relevant Engagement to build relationships among our teens of color that foster community and healing in culturally relevant ways through art and music. Check out their work here.

We also invite you to learn more about and support the work of the Issaquah School District Student Equity Council, a “student-led group focused on developing district-wide policies, projects, and programs that equitably reflect the needs and experiences of our increasingly diverse student body”. 

Finally, we would like to share a Resource Guide compiled by Mountains to Sound Greenway Trust for BIPOC interested in breaking into outdoors and conservation careers. https://mtsgreenway.org/blog/bipoc-outdoors-resource-guide/ 

Join us in learning more about and supporting local businesses, groups and organizations that sustain and uplift Black and Brown communities. 

“And so we lift our gazes not to what stands between us

but what stands before us

We close the divide because we know, to put our future first,

we must first put our differences aside

We lay down our arms

so we can reach out our arms

to one another[...]"

-Amanda Gorman, The Hill We Climb, 2021


Serena Narisawa
Program Coordinator
The Garage, a Teen Cafe

January is National Mentoring Month!


The Garage strongly believes in internships and mentoring. We partner with both ACT (Academy for Community Transition) and Gibson Ek High School to provide mentorships for students.

The ACT program "is designed to assist students with developmental disabilities move towards the most independent lifestyle possible." Their program "provides community-based employment experience, with focus on social skills and the development of real world vocational skills, as well as travel training and recreational opportunities."

At Gibson Ek, "the internship/mentorship program (called LTI) serves as crucial learning for students, allowing them to work with an adult mentor whose career matches or touches on their potential interests and aspirations."

If you are interested in becoming a mentor, check out more information here:
  • https://www.isd411.org/programs-services/special-education/special-education-programs/families/special-education/special-education-programs/academy-for-community-transition

  • https://gibsonek.isd411.org/our-school/internships-mentorships


Tiana Parry
Program Manager
The Garage, a Teen Cafe


December is the Time for Giving!


The Garage just celebrated its four-year anniversary! It’s hard to believe we have been serving teens for that long. Over the past four years we have:
  • Had more than 27,000 visits
  • Served more than 2,100 teens
  • Currently serve 80 – 150 teens a day
  • Hired a Case Manager
  • AND all services and resources are FREE!
Together we ensure our teens have a safe and welcoming place to come after school, during school breaks, and summer. Every day teens are coming to the Garage to find community, access our free services including food and drinks, laptop check-outs, and academic tutoring.
Our licensed counselor is available to meet with teens who are struggling with mental health challenges or simply need someone to talk to. And our case manager provides support to teens experiencing insecure housing by developing individualized, strengths-based, teen-driven
service plans that address their individual needs. This is where you come in! A gift to the Garage is an investment in our teens and goes to work straight-away to ensure our teens are thriving. Make a gift today – we can’t do this without you!

Wishing you and yours a happy holiday!

KayLee Jaech
Executive Director
The Garage, a Teen Cafe


November is Native American Heritage Month!


We at the Garage would like to acknowledge that we are on the traditional land of the first people of Seattle, the Duwamish People past, present, and emerging and honor with gratitude the land itself and the Duwamish Tribe.

Land Acknowledgments are a traditional practice dating back  centuries to many Native nations and communities. At the Garage, we believe it is incredibly important to recognize the Indigenous peoples who steward this land.

The Duwamish Tribe's Federal recognition was revoked in 2002 and their case has been pending in the Interior Board of Indian Appeals since 2015. To support The First Peoples of Seattle, the
dxʷdəwʔabš, please visit the following websites:

https://www.duwamishtribe.org/

https://www.standwiththeduwamish.org/

https://www.realrentduwamish.org/


Brenna Moore
Program Coordinator
The Garage, a Teen Cafe


October is Substance Use Prevention Month!


In celebration of national substance use prevention month, I think it’s vital to first note that substance use prevention and mental health promotion are among the most robust and cost-effective community-based interventions we can support.  Providing young people, the education, support, and skill sets to make consistently healthy decisions as they develop, provides us the best long-term outcomes. 

Prevention often revolves around the ideas of risk and support. Simply Stated, the more support we can provide and risk factors we can eliminate, the safer teens are.

Parents and caregivers are on the front lines of support when it comes to substance use prevention. Talking to our youth to generate control and agency over their future.

For more information regarding prevention, risk, and preventive factors, visit:
https://nida.nih.gov/publications/preventing-drug-use-among-children-adolescents/chapter-1-risk-factors-protective-factors/what-are-risk-factors



Jerry Blackburn, M.Ed., SUDP
Program Director
Empower Youth Network
https://empoweryouthnetwork.org/

We'd love to see you soon!

ADDRESS
Located at:​
235 1st Ave SE
Issaquah, WA 98027
Mailing Address:
P.O. Box 1982
Issaquah, WA 98027
GARAGE HOURS
​MON:     3:00 p.m. - 7:00 p.m.
TUES:    3:00 p.m. - 7:00 p.m.
WED:     3
:00 p.m. - 7:00 p.m.
THURS: 3:00 p.m. - 7:00 p.m.
FRI:        3
:00 p.m. - 7:00 p.m.
PHONE
(425) 395-7341
SOCIAL MEDIA
EIN NUMBER
​84-2529618