Patti at the International Living Future Conference in 2017. Patti won numerous awards from the Living Future Institute and was named a Living Future Hero in 2016

Patti and her sister Ellen, Founder of Site Story at a Salmon-Safe farm dinner in the Methow Valley

About Patti Southard

Patti Southard was a fierce social and environmental activist. Born in the New Jersey Pine Barrens, the first nature reserve in the U.S., she was influenced by her family’s stewardship of the land and commitment to the environment.

Patti came to Washington in 1986 as a camp counselor at Four Winds Westward Ho where she taught canoeing and sailing. This experience cemented her commitment to the environment of the Pacific Northwest. She led the King County GreenTools Program for 13 years. She served on the Board of Directors of the Northwest Natural Resource Group (NNRG) for ten years and was dedicated to healthy forestry practices and advancing the Forestry Stewardship Council’s FSC rating system. She was a Project Manager for ZHome, the first net zero energy project in the country. Patti won numerous awards throughout her career as an early adopter of green building and eventually became a certified Sustainability Management Advisor through Harvard University.

Patti was also an Oxfam America Ambassador for 10 years advocating for the rights of refugees, immigrants and asylum seekers. She frequently visited Washington D.C. meeting with congressional and senate members to encourage federal investment in programs that supported the needs of migrating families internationally and for U.S policies that advanced the rights of women in this country.

She was a strong supporter of healthy affordable housing for low wealth community members and displaced families impacted by climate change, as well as immigrants, and refugees. Patti had many aspirations for the Homestead Tukwila site including the achievement of the Living Building Challenge (LBC) Net Zero Energy rating and Salmon-Safe Certification.

To learn more about Patti visit:

Love & Regeneration Magazine

https://issuu.com/thelorax/docs/summer_2019

Trim Tab

https://trimtab.living-future.org/uncategorized/remembering-our-friend-patti/

Remembering One of Seattle’s Greats

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vEvQepFoAiU

Stewardship Partners

https://www.stewardshippartners.org/remembering-our-friend-patti-southard/

About The Southard

Developed by Homestead Community Land Trust, this is the first project of its kind in the City of Tukwila, The Southard will provide 11 family homes at subsidized prices affordable to low- to moderate-income buyers.  Through our community land trust, these homes will be affordable to the first buyer and will remain affordable to all subsequent low-to moderate-income buyers. Two of the homes will be owned by Parkview Services and will provide group homes for adults with disabilities. The five remaining homes may be sold without income restrictions. Proceeds from those homes will be used to reduce the prices of the affordable homes.

Homestead Community Land Trust transforms lives and communities by putting the stability and wealth-building benefits of homeownership within financial reach of income-qualified households. Using the leasehold ownership model created by Civil Rights-era leaders, they lower barriers to homeownership for those excluded by discrimination, and have nearly 60% ownership by people of color. We give first-time buyers the opportunity to own a home that is affordable to them and remains affordable to future owners.  As a result their homes prevent displacement and give affordability a permanent address in neighborhoods in King County.

The Southard is dedicated to Patti Southard who had an early role in this affordable housing project. Patti was a fierce social and environmental activist. Her thoughtful vision and aspirations led this Homestead Tukwila site to achieve Living Building Challenge (LBC) Net Zero Energy status and Salmon-Safe certification.

Developed by the International Living Future Institute, Net Zero Energy Certification here at the Southard is an important accomplishment as Net Zero projects use less energy than they produce. The Net Zero rating presents a new energy model, where built projects catalyze a transition toward a prosperous future with energy infrastructure that is clean, abundant, and resilient.

Thoughtful urban development can help prevent runoff that is the biggest threat to the health of Puget Sound. This site is Salmon-Safe certified, meaning that the design, operations, and maintenance are ensuring that downstream water quality is protected for a healthy Puget Sound watershed. The Salmon-Safe certification means the Southard project was designed prioritizing the following strategies:

·         stormwater management

·         water conservation

·         materials safe for fish and wildlife

·         erosion control

·         ecological enhancement through native, drought-tolerant plants

·         climate resiliency

·         pesticide reduction and water quality protection

·         watershed health

In the fall of 2023, Salmon-Safe and Homestead Community Land Trust were awarded a grant from King County Waterworks to bring green stormwater infrastructure (GSI) on site to manage and treat stormwater of the roofs of the houses.

Links:

Homestead Community Land Trust https://www.homesteadclt.org/

Salmon-Safe https://www.salmonsafe.org

International Living Future Institute https://living-future.org/

What’s to Come at The Southard

Through the course of the summer there will be 6 Graƫtix Boxes (rain gardens in a box) and 3 Oyster Shell Barrels installed on site. These 9 bioretention amenities will treat stormwater flowing from the roofs, slowing it down, cooling it, managing turbidity and treating any contaminants from the roof or leaching metals from the solar panels. The amended soils in the boxes provide the microbial action that cleans the water making it safe for salmon once its released. The Graƫtix Boxes will be planted with native plants and are ADA accessible for resident maintenance purposes.

In addition the grant will provide for interpretive educational signage on the site. The interpretive signage includes content in braille for site impaired individuals. Through the grant and crowd sourced donations there will be a Pollinator Bench water feature that catches the rain.  These are also known as “Bee benches” which provide a shallow source of water for pollinators. Pollinators are key to having healthy habitat, and will support the flowers and vegetables grown in the resident gardens.

Later this summer, Site Story will work with the new residents to install the stormwater features. We will also work with Tilth Alliance’s Garden Hotline, who will teach maintenance workshops for the Graƫtix Boxes and Oyster Shell Barrels; as well as provide resources for ecofriendly gardening.

Special thanks to Venture General Contracting. Their team will provide pro-bono services to hook up the boxes and barrels to the current downspout system and help install the Interpretive signs and Bee bench. Venture is a Salmon-Safe accredited contractor.