Spotlight : Denise Louie Education Center

  • Christopher Imbeau
  • Marketing Director
  • Rafn Company

Rafn is excited to be able to support the Denise Louie Education Center (DLEC) and their mission to provide multicultural early learning and family support services to Seattle’s low-income, immigrant and refugee communities.

As part of our current project, the Mercy Magnuson Place, we are also building-out DLEC’s new on-site early learning center within the building for residents and the community. Opening this September, the 14,217-square-foot, two-story space will serve an additional 300 children and their families annually, building a supportive learning environment that embraces cultural and economic diversity.

DLEC has been recognized for its holistic approach and is committed to protecting and preserving each child’s individuality, culture, and home language. Last year, DLEC served nearly 600 low-income, immigrant children (ages birth to five) and their families through their Early Head Start, Head Start, and Play & Learn programs.

The Mercy Magnuson Early Learning Center will have preschool and infant toddler classrooms, as well as rooms for socialization, therapy, music, art, gross motor skills, and administrative offices. The Denise Louie Education Center is part of the larger Mercy Magnuson Place project that is a collaboration of affordable housing, health care, and early learning, creating a community-based space to best support some of Seattle’s most vulnerable population.

Mercy Magnuson Early Learning Center aims to close the “opportunity gap” so that children are prepared for kindergarten and their families have the tools to support them. One of the best ways to do this is with access to literature.

“We are grateful for the opportunity to build Denise Louie Education Center’s beautiful new facility at Mercy Magnuson Place, but we are even more grateful to be able to help provide books and book bags to the children that will be learning and growing in this new space. Rafn’s mission of “learning, teaching, and constant improvement” aligns well with DLEC and we are so happy to support them.”

Shawn Rhode, Rafn Company CEO

With the opening of this early learning site, Rafn is proud to support DLEC with 108 new books and 253 new book bags to encourage reading and increase access to multilingual books that celebrate diversity and cultural heritage. By being exposed to culturally diverse peers at a young age, DLEC hopes that children will learn acceptance, understanding, and respect.

For more information about Denise Louie Education Center, visit deniselouie.org.

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