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About Us

WAWAC’s mission is to connect West Africans in Washington with local resources, bridge the gap between us and the wider community, and culturally socialize West African children in a value-driven way. Our mission aims to establish a pedestal to enable West Africans to discover their full potential and facilitate communication through the use of modern information technologies and works of art for the discovery and realization of their talents. The vision of WAWAC is to see a vibrant, empowered, and socio-economically healthy West African community in Washington.

The vision of WAWAC is founded in a yearning to see a West African community that is integrated, vibrant and connected to resources both within itself and the wider Washingtonian community.

It is founded and led 100% by members of the community it serves. As a By and For organization, founded and managed within the communities we work, it was created with the community in mind, who are front and center to the work we do. WAWAC is a statewide agency and operates predominantly in Snohomish, King, Pierce, and Clark counties, with a particular focus in Snohomish county in cities such as Everett, Lynnwood, Mountlake Terrace, Edmonds, Bothell, Mill Creek, Mukilteo, Marysville, Lake Stevens, Shoreline, Kent, Renton, Burien, Federal Way.

We are the 911 and the 211 for West Africans who are living with their families and working in the State of Washington, which is home to over twenty thousand West Africans, who settled here dating as far back as 50 years ago. These early West African immigrants started building families and now the 2nd and 3rd generations live and work here as well. In the same regard, the few who can, have brought their parents (moms especially) to help raise their kids and teach them some important aspects of the culture.

All our staff are trusted messengers with lived experience and as such, our community’s culture of looking for answers within our members has proven to be a positive for us. They rely heavily on the center to connect them to culturally appropriate resources in a value-driven way including food, interpreting and translating health information, providing transportation to the drop-in center and to medical appointments, completing insurance forms and applying for jobs, mitigating legal challenges, supporting their kids' through our summer camps and the BIDEWW and King County After-School Programs, etc.

Our services are sought and valued by our communities evident in the exponential growth of the number of people who seek our support within a relatively short period since we were founded in 2017. Through the years, WAWAC has experienced immense growth from organizing events on ad-hoc bases to operating a fully functional community/cultural center with structured programs/projects. Because of Covid-19, we received funding from different partners that enabled us to kick-start our long-term goal of having a safe space for our community members to commune and build a more cohesive community. Our programs are designed based on the needs of the community informed through our interactions with them and a "Needs Assessment survey" that was conducted for us by the E-Marketing students of the University of Washington Bothell in 2020.

For 2023-2025, WAWAC has 4 priority areas, housing justice, food justice, mental health, and building community power. All our programs and services are designed and implemented to promote human health and environmental sustainability in our business practices. As the 211 and 911 of the West African community in Washington State, we serve as a safe haven and trusted messengers that our community relies on for any issues they have.

Our programs vary from the bi-weekly food distribution, ESL class, Bideww kids After-school program and Summer Camp, our grandma support group, language interpretation and translation, transportation services, legal assistance, etc. Our programs are designed from the needs assessment survey we created in 2021 coupled with our interactions with our community. All of these programs and activities are geared towards promoting, strengthening, and enhancing the mental health of the community. Because this is a top priority for us and because there was no baseline data to support our work, in the Autumn quarter of 2023, we partnered with the School of Public Health at the University of Washington Seattle to conduct a research study about the Mental Health Status of the community. This study was submitted to WAWAC in June of 2024.

In 2022-2023, WAWAC served over 8000 individuals. Out of the 8000 individuals:
40 residents applied for health insurance benefits and/or scheduled a preventive doctor's visit.
25 residents received translation help and guidance for the judicial system
20 residents received guidance for school paperwork.
565 received a human service referral to services such as housing and food.
32 residents apply for educational and/or job opportunities.
10 residents received immigration/legal support pro bono,
50 residents received logistical support to medical appointments,
100 residents received translation help and guidance for the judicial system,
100 youths received training in multimedia-related skills, communications, outreach, and advocacy,
140 seniors benefited from "meet, greet and hangout".
50 kids participated in WAWAC’s Bideww (Summer camp and After School) program.

Please view the videos for the different services we provide to our communities:
Weekly West African Market- https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WyFcbBhr6iw
Drop in center- https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ex5Q5OwiA3k
Covid vaccination- https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pDSb5qSWDR4&t=110s
After-school program- https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DDRwvjQ9CM8&t=1s
Summer Camp- https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nqGUgFK-UqI&t=6s
Grandma Hangout- https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=P-iK_u1yLR8
ESL Classes- https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lS1MOcddTFQ&t=15s
Legal Assistance- https://youtu.be/WuwAnFDdSXI
WAWAC Transportation Services- https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Hw3UOvBfekE
In 2022, WAWAC was named the African Non Profit of the year and Pa Ousman Joof was named African nonprofit Executive of the year by Channel A-TV. Read about the award here or watch the award acceptance video here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kYOhfAr9B2k&t=10s
In mid-October 2023, Pa Ousman Joof was awarded the “Community Catalyst Award 2023” by the Evan’s School of Public Policy and Governance at the University of Washington. See video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2Y3WXROROv4&t=12s

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