Neighbors are experts on knowing what they need to thrive

 

By Mary Stamp

The dissonance between teaching students and students' ability to learn because of socioeconomic factors led Jene Ray into nonprofit efforts to support students' learning readiness.

She made the switch after 20 years as a K-12 teacher in low-income neighborhoods of Tacoma.

Now in Spokane as executive director of both The ZONE and the Northeast Community Center (NECC), she implements programs on a campus that includes Shaw Middle School, Lisa Mattson On Track Academy, the Hillyard Library and New Tech Skills Center.

Linked by crosswalks over Cook St. to the center at 4001 N. Cook, the campus integrates education with the services of The ZONE and the community center.

The NECC campus also includes Akin child counseling and family support services, Hillyard Senior Center, Manzanita House language and community-building programs for immigrants, MultiCare Behavioral Health Clinic outpatient services, Northeast Child Development Center Head Start and Early Head Start, the Northeast Support Team (NEST Coalition) substance use programs, SNAP financial and energy assistance, Unify Community medical, dental and pharmacy, and Women, Infants and Children (WIC).

For 10 years, The ZONE has supported youth programs in the nine neighborhoods the NECC serves—where residents started advocating in 1976, after SNAP opened to help people in Hillyard. They are Chief Garry Park, Hillyard, Logan, Bemiss, Whitman, Nevada Heights, Shiloh Hills, Minnehaha and Riverside. In 1982, the center building was built to house SNAP, a senior center and other programs serving neighbors' needs.

The ZONE embeds staff in schools and the community. The Youth Wellness Zone at On Track Academy students have defined what wellness means to them, opened a schoolyard forest, distributed produce to families and presented their work to the Washington State Senate Human Needs Community.

This is the type of integration of nonprofit community services with education that Jene realized was essential to ensure that students will succeed and that educators can educate.

Jene grew up on a remote farm in Pierce County, 20 minutes from the inner-city Tacoma high school where she eventually taught students struggling to learn and manage all life was throwing at them outside school.

She taught preschool, then grade school, before moving into curriculum development with the school district.

On the farm, Jene had no radio or TV. Her mother went to the store only once a month for paper products. They raised sheep for meat, goats for milk, chickens and gardens, and even ground their own wheat for bread.

While she was in some ways sheltered from the nearby city, because her parents had lived in France while her father was in the military, the family visited and had visits from French friends. That led her to study French at Willamette University in Salem, Ore., and spend a year after graduation teaching high school English in Nice, France, before earning a master's degree in education at Willamette in 1994.

"I envisioned teaching French to expose students to different world views and ways of thinking," said Jene.

Sheltered from the challenges of inner-city students until she began teaching, she found it hard to implement her vision. Students struggled in school because of housing and food insecurity or violence in their neighborhoods and homes.

Jene's efforts to push children to do assignments without addressing their needs motivated her to shift to nonprofit leadership to address the missing pieces through social services.

Now she coordinates wraparound services for students so that when they go to school they can learn.

Jene is influenced by her Jewish heritage and its teaching on healing the world—tikkun olam.

"It refers to picking up and putting the broken pieces of the world back together. Everyone has skills to help. Mine are working with kids and creating neighborhoods in which they can thrive," she said. "I love to see what happens when I encourage them to find their voice so they can be successful.

"My practice of Jewish faith is about how I walk through life day by day," said Jene.

After leaving teaching in 2013, she advocated for education and workforce reform at the Washington State Legislature. Then she directed operations for the Center for Strong Schools with the University of Washington in Tacoma.

Soon after Jene moved to Spokane in the summer of 2018 to marry Dave Ray, she met Amber Waldref and began to volunteer at the NECC and The ZONE, which embody her vision. In January 2019, Jene was hired by The ZONE and eventually became executive director of the NECC/ZONE in October 2025.

The ZONE works to understand needs of families and youth. With data from that work, it partnered with Ballmer Group in Seattle, which funded their after-school and summer youth programs.

In 2023, Ballmer Group also contributed to funding for mental health care, while NECC remodeled the former Northeast Library building to open in October 2024 as a behavioral health clinic where neighbors and students can go for counseling.

With hall passes, students can go to other buildings for dental, medical or behavioral health care during the day, so families don't have to take off work to transport them to appointments.

Jene coordinates efforts of the NECC and The ZONE with the agencies and staff at the center to offer "resident-facing programs" with people to walk beside neighbor children, youth and adults.

"Neighbors know what they need and are experts in how to create thriving households and community," she said.

For example, a neighbor showed up at the NECC not sure where to begin. Her rent was due, her work hours were cut, and her kids were watching her try to figure out what to do.

"She wasn't looking to be fixed. She was looking for someone to walk beside her," said Jene. "That's what we do at the NECC."

The center is more than a place to go for a class or appointment with one of the partner agencies.

"We sit down with people and ask what they need to thrive," she said. "Our programs and services are shaped by the people who live here."

The Resident Steering Committee of youth and adults sets priorities, asks questions, identifies needs and determines staff and program direction. Current priorities are employment, life skills and belonging.

For employment, case managers work one-on-one with families to build financial stability and map out careers. The Economic Mobility Program helped 27 individuals secure jobs, three launch businesses and 11 enroll in GED or ESL classes at Spokane Community College.

NECC has led community-voiced advocacy, partnering with the Northeast Public Development Authority and raised $2.65 million to build 24/7 childcare in Hillyard for those working evenings and weekends.

Programs help neighbors find affordable housing through below market-rate rent or home ownership.Other programs build confidence through classes and internships. For example, Jean's Beans Coffee Shop, named for former executive director Jean Farmer, offers workforce training.

NECC staff listen and then offer skills in finances, parenting, mental health, nutrition or communication.

They organize community events and block parties with food, activities, resources, education and crafts so neighbors meet and build trust.

Since starting at the NECC/ZONE, Jene has read books by Father Greg Boyle, a Gonzaga alum and Jesuit priest who served gangs in California.

"His emphasis on building kinship over doing charity helped me see that when we position ourselves as helpers, standing above those who need help, we get it wrong. It's not us and them. We belong to each other," Jene said. "Fr. Greg reintegrated gang members into society through awareness that God loves all of us and we, in God's image, are to love each other.

"We all know what we need to thrive. At NECC, we hold space, ask questions and move out of the way of people's own strength," she said. "Some barriers are based on the impact on our wellbeing of the family, zip code and environment we are born into, but we are all inherently whole.

"People heal and return to themselves through love and being accepted, not judged. We are a safe space where people can come and ask for support. When we genuinely see each other, something shifts. Families stabilize. Children show up at school. Neighbors look out for one another. Neighborhoods become the places we hoped they could be," Jene explained.

For information, call 209-7227 or 487-1603, email jray@necommunitycenter.com or visit thezonespokane or necommunitycenter.com