Estela Ortega is the executive director of El Centro de la Raza, a community organization based on Beacon Hill in Seattle. El Centro is s a beautiful and special place that has been providing comprehensive services -- including food assistance, childcare, training, and English instruction -- for the Latinx and Chicano communities (and anyone else who needs them) for over 45 years. Everything about El Centro, including its name (the center for people of all races) embodies the value of community, but I wanted to talk to Estela about El Centro’s recent success building affordable housing in a city that is rapidly becoming the exclusive domain of the rich.

For more information about El Centro de la Raza and Plaza Maestas, visit www.elcentrodelaraza.org/.

***Intro/outro music, recorded with permission: "Joe Metro," by Blue Scholars.https://www.youtube.com/watch?time_continue=6&v=Wz79goWQrYU***