A Community Preservation & Development Authority named in honor of the Rev. Dr. Samuel Berry McKinney
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The proposal submitted by the Reverend Dr. Samuel Berry McKinney Coalition was selected to initiate the process of taking control of the Seattle Vocational Institute (SVI) property on 22nd Avenue South and South Jackson Street.
The late Dr. Samuel Berry McKinney was responsible for bringing Seattle Opportunity Industrialization Center (SOIC) to Seattle for the purpose of training, educating, and uplifting African Americans in Seattle.
The proposal submitted would restore the pre apprentice training program, employment training in technology, contractor/business support center, and other relevant programs that will enhance the growth and development of the African American Community in Martin Luther King Jr. County.
"In 1966, Rev. Dr. Samuel Berry McKinney, a Baptist minister, co-founded the Seattle Opportunity Industrialization Center (SOIC) in the basement of his church. The training center equipped minorities who were unemployed or underemployed with the life and job skills necessary to compete in the workforce. Dr. McKinney's educational model replicated the national OIC founded in 1964. McKinney became a prominent figure in the organization and served as its national Vice President. By 1970, nearly a thousand students found work through the Seattle OIC. It was just the beginning.
'We were able to, for 20 years, train people and build a facility at 22md and Jackson,' McKinney said.
That facility, and Dr. McKinney's legacy, remains and continues to serve the underemployed and underserved population of this region. More than 50,000 students have graduated from Seattle Opportunities Industrialization Center (SOIC), Washington Institute of Technology (WIAT) and Seattle Vocational Institute (SVI)."
