Where are They Now?

This page is dedicated to highlighting the inspiring stories of how our grantee partners are making a difference after their grants have been awarded. Join us in celebrating the achievements of these grantee partners and discover how, together, we are creating a ripple effect of positive change across Seattle. Stay tuned for more content!

Project Be Free provides crisis response to people affected by domestic violence. The organization offers an innovative approach with wraparound mental health services and support for the entire family—survivors and abusers. Impact 100 has been with Project Be Free almost since day one. The organization won a $28,500 grant in 2022, $30,000 in 2023, and finally, $100,000 in 2024. According to Co-founder and Executive Director Katya Wojcik, There was something Impact 100 saw in us. It’s gratifying to be seen.

Forging a Partnership for Domestic Violence Response

Project Be Free was born out of an unlikely friendship. Katya Wojcik and Joel Thomas met in 2017 when she was a mental health therapist at a nonprofit and he was a police officer. Both were frustrated. Katya, herself a survivor of domestic violence, was discouraged by the complexity of domestic violence and the difficulties of reaching people who were often homeless or living with abusers. Joel was frustrated that police responding to domestic violence calls could make arrests but couldn’t offer any other form of help.

Over the course of several years, Katya and Joel coalesced around a potential solution: What if licensed mental health providers could go on the scene with officers responding to domestic violence calls? This idea became the foundation of Project Be Free.

The organization’s big break came in 2022 when the City of Renton forged a partnership with Project Be Free to pilot their co-response model. Around the same time, Impact 100 awarded the nascent organization a grant based on the strength of its concept. It was the first grant application I’d ever written; I put it together the week before it was due, recounted Katya. It’s been quite the journey.

After a year of therapists and police working together, Project Be Free received a $135,000 grant from the Association of Washington Cities to solidify this alternative policing model in Renton. Partnerships in Newcastle, Kent, and Auburn followed as the organization expanded its geographic reach. The Association of Washington Cities recently renewed their grant to fund the organization’s work in Kent and Renton.

A Problem That Affects Everyone

Katya stresses the scope, scale, and complexity of domestic violence. It is rampant and affects everyone. It’s in the biggest, nicest houses and the tents of homeless encampments. The culprit is often intergenerational unhealthiness and trauma, said Katya. As of July, Project Be Free had received 41 calls about an abusive parent in the household and 57 calls where youth were the perpetrators. Sometimes we’re dealing with verbal or emotional abuse. In these situations, the tension is mounting.

Project Be Free’s team mirrors this diversity of need. The team serves all demographics. They speak 19 languages—language can often be a significant barrier to people getting services—and their board and staff are people of color. The organization’s first responders are all mental health providers and trained domestic violence advocates.

People are referred to Project Be Free’s Advocacy Program by co-responder police officers, prosecutors’ offices, and the King County Domestic Violence Helpline, as well as other nonprofit organizations throughout the county. The organization offers a range of services including counseling, parent and survivor groups, youth mentorship, resource navigation, language translation, connections to housing, and help navigating the legal system. The organization also offers tailored coaching for youth ages 11-21. Young people who are struggling with domestic violence need assistance to navigate life and get on a healthy path. Counselors meet youth at homes, in schools, or elsewhere in the community.

The Money Lets Us Sleep at Night

Over the past three years, grants from Impact 100 have provided foundational funding for Project Be Free. This includes support for operations, adding staff and contractors, providing space for leadership to write grants, and getting the youth mentorship and behavior health programs off the ground. Impact 100’s support has also provided a track record and credibility for other funders.

The 2024 grant will allow Project Be Free to continue their vision of growth, looking for new partnerships in new cities. The organization is on track to serve 1200 families by the end of the year. The organization can also pay its staff enough to live in an increasingly expensive region. According to Consumer Reports, a living wage in Seattle is $87,146.08 and in Tacoma $68,357.87.

Adequately compensating staff is something Katya feels passionate about; she consistently advocates for her staff’s mental health and well-being. Our team does really hard work, Katya shared. I shouldn’t ever ask a staff member to live in poverty or tell them ‘you’re not getting paid’ because a partner was late with funding. Impact 100’s funding lets us sleep at night.

Exploring New Partnerships, Increasing Stability

Katya and her team are excited for the coming year. Project Be Free is exploring partnerships with King County to deepen its work with youth and children, who often don’t get support or services in domestic violence situations. The organization is staffing up to do this work; they hope to add three staff roles. Katya looks forward to stability, growth, and continuing to support families in the four cities where they work. They’re also running a fundraising gala this year in Renton in October.

Even as Project Be Free matures, the organization maintains its creative, unconventional approach. Katya shared the story of a pregnant woman who had been the victim of strangulation and was being supported by three staff members. The woman has a hard time answering her phone, so one of Katya’s team went to her house to talk her through options for support.

We needed to keep at it. Domestic violence is complicated. Breaking its cycle requires working with whole families and disrupting unhealthy traits and patterns. It requires organizations that are willing to say ‘yes’ rather than ‘no’ and work in out-of-the-box ways. That’s why people should support us, declared Katya.

"We needed to keep at it. Domestic violence is complicated. Breaking its cycle requires working with whole families and disrupting unhealthy traits and patterns. It requires organizations that are willing to say ‘yes’ rather than ‘no’ and work in out-of-the-box ways. That’s why people should support us."

No More Under is a 2023 grantee partner and recipient of a $100,000 grant. Founder and Executive Director Chezik Tsunoda—also a member of Impact 100 Seattle—is a passionate advocate for water safety. "I want to change the conversation. Kids need to know how to keep themselves safe in the water-it should be as natural as buckling your seatbelt."

Turning Tragedy Into Action & Making Water Safety a Top Priority

Chezik started No More Under in 2019, just one year after the death of her three-year-old son, Yori, who drowned in a backyard pool. With drowning being the leading cause of death for children in the US between one and four years old, she became determined to help parents and kids learn about water safety.

A filmmaker by trade, Chezik channeled her energy into the acclaimed film Drowning in Silence to prompt a broader public discussion about drowning, its tragic aftermath, and how it can be prevented. "We don’t hear about the thousands of drownings that happen every year. I felt called to make this film and speak out about it," explains Chezik.

She was eager to do more. Chezik wanted to tear down the barriers of race and income that hold many kids back from learning to swim. Relative to other kids, Black and Brown children are 4-5 times more likely to drown, as are children in families with an income of under $50,000 per year. These are the families that No More Under aims to reach.

Marking Five Years of Remarkable Progress

Five years and a pandemic later, No More Under has made tremendous progress. First, they’re helping more kids learn to swim. In partnership with groups like the YMCA and city pools in Seattle, Tukwila, and Bellevue, they have taught more than 5,000 swim lessons. "It’s incredibly beautiful to see the kids in the pool. You can feel the energy and the joy," explains Chezik.

Parents rave about No More Under’s activities. "As a single-parent household, the free lessons were a tremendous help for our family," said one parent. "Everything was wonderful. It helped me become more conscious that it really is necessary for kids to learn to swim and know what safety steps to take," raved another.

No More Under now seeks to ramp up these efforts through its Swim Safely Series, partnering with colleges and volunteer collegiate swimmers to teach local kids water survival skills. Two of the main barriers to teaching water safety are a lack of instructors and access to pools. Swim Safely’s partnership model tackles both. Last year, the program was piloted at two colleges in Colorado, and in the coming year, No More Under hopes to reach 5-10 more colleges and eventually scale nationwide.

Using Policy and Education to Advance Water Safety

Chezik and her team are also influencing policy. In Seattle, they promoted the Swim Seattle initiative to help kids of all backgrounds have access to swimming opportunities. Mayor Bruce Harrell and city officials started the initiative as a pilot last year.

At the state level, No More Under worked with WA State Rep. April Berg to pass last year’s House Bill 1750, known as Yori’s Law. The law designates May 15th as Washington Water Safety Day, a day to encourage anyone who touches the lives of children to talk about water safety and drowning prevention. The law promotes water safety education and awareness, increases access to swimming lessons, and helps families get the tools and equipment they need.

No More Under joined with Seattle Parks and Recreation, YMCA of Greater Seattle, and other local groups to host the first-ever Water Safety Day event in May 2024. Hundreds of kids, adults, and volunteers gathered at Rainier Beach Community Center and Pool to learn about water safety, pick up free life jackets, and jump in the pool for a swimming lesson.

Next, No More Under hopes to rally support for national water safety education efforts. Chezik is already taking her message to a national audience through media outreach; No More Under was featured on a recent segment on ABC’s GMA 3 program, which reaches more than one million viewers across the country.

The Importance of Impact 100 Seattle's Support

Impact 100 Seattle’s support has made this past year’s progress possible. "We are sincerely grateful; we have felt so much support from the Impact 100 Seattle community. The grant gave us the ability to breathe; we were able to do everything from developing a national program to buying a computer for an employee. Impact 100’s support allowed us to dream and have a break from the constant fundraising," explains Chezik.

"We are sincerely grateful; we have felt so much support from the Impact 100 Seattle community. The grant gave us the ability to breathe; we were able to do everything from developing a national program to buying a computer for an employee. Impact 100’s support allowed us to dream and have a break from the constant fundraising."

Chezik knows there’s much more work to be done. In addition to scaling the Swim Safely program nationwide, No More Under is digging deeper into Washington State education and advocacy. They’re conducting a landscape analysis to determine if and how schools talk about water safety and offer swimming lessons. Then, they’ll work on encouraging water safety discussions in schools each year before summer break.

In the meantime, Chezik is working to expand her team. No More Under currently has one full-time employee and several contract employees, while Chezik volunteers her time. Team capacity is critical for the organization to make bold, positive change. "Swimming is a lifesaving skill; we lose too many people every year to this completely preventable death," says Chezik. "We need to shift our perspective around what it takes to be safe in the water. Everyone should know how to swim; it should be a right."

"Swimming is a lifesaving skill; we lose too many people every year to this completely preventable death. We need to shift our perspective around what it takes to be safe in the water. Everyone should know how to swim; it should be a right."