| Bank Verity Credit Union |
| Client Ballard P-Patch |
| Location Seattle, Washington, United States |
At Verity Credit Union, our mission is to enhance members’ lives by building trusted relationships and vibrant communities. One way we do that is by answering the call when help is needed, especially when a neighbor is in need.
Enter the Ballard P-Patch, a beloved community garden that has been a fixture in the northern Seattle neighborhood for 44 years. P-Patches are community gardens that help connect people to nature, improve access to organically-grown food and feed the hungry. Redeemers Lutheran Church owned the Ballard P-Patch for decades and leased the space to the City of Seattle for $1.00 per year. When the church decided to sell the 1.66-acre parcel of land to GROW Northwest, a local nonprofit that owns several other community gardens, preliminary financing fell through at the last minute and the P-Patch was at risk of being lost forever.
That’s where Verity comes in. We connected with the P-Patch and GROW Northwest and were able to approve and fund a $1.75-million-dollar bridge loan that was needed to transfer ownership and retain this vital community resource. In fall 2020, the P-Patch received their full funding following our bridge loan and were able to retain the space permanently.
Because we stepped in and provided financing, the Ballard P-Patch lives on and continues to operate, host educational programming and grow thousands of pounds of produce for local food banks each year. Thanks to the relationships we built in the community and the hard work of many, we were able to put our mission into action and watch the P-Patch continue to thrive.