RENTON, Wash. — He's one of the best receivers in Seattle Seahawks history, but Doug Baldwin's post-NFL work is what he hopes will leave a lasting legacy.
After a decade of planning and years of fundraising, Baldwin’s Family First Community Center in Renton is opening June 16.
The basketball gymnasium is especially meaningful – dedicated to his grandparents, Victoria and Junius Boling.
"My grandfather was the most influential person in my life when he was alive - he still is,” Baldwin said. "I really miss him. Miss that smile."
The community center is a public/private partnership and is just one of the ways Baldwin is working to impact communities in Washington state. His fundraising coalition Champions of Change (founded with former teammates Cliff Avril and Michael Bennett) is also busy this month, holding its annual gala, auction and All-Star Basketball Game.
"It's a lot, but I like to stay busy. I enjoy what I do,” he said. "I don't even call it work; it's a lot of fun. And then we get to create culture and environment and experiences for our community, similar to this."
The community center was inspired by Baldwin’s childhood in Florida but also serves to answer more areas of need. Case in point: there’s a dance studio next to the basketball gym.
"I was not a dancer by any means, but I recognized the experience that that provides,” he said.
The center also has a demo kitchen where kids can learn how to cook and study nutrition, a fitness room, an activities lounge and a makers space created in partnership with the Renton School District.
"This is basically the modern-day take on the shop,” Baldwin said. “We’re going to have 3-D printers, lasers - a whole bunch of technology in here that kids, even during the school day, they will come over here and utilize this facility."
In what may be the first model of its kind in the nation, the center also has an on-site Health Point clinic.
"You come here, it's a recreational facility but you also have a health clinic. It makes it easier for our community. You get to come to one location and get all the services you need - medical, dental, behavioral health services,” Baldwin said. "When you walk through those doors, it doesn't matter where you come from. It doesn't matter, your previous experiences, your background, the color of your skin, your sexual orientation, none of that matters. When you're here, you're part of our family."
That sense of belonging extends to the Champions of Change mission, which provides funding to a number of benefitting partners – mostly small, grassroots non-profits addressing a number of needs.
The All-Star Basketball Game – which will feature luminaries like Marshawn Lynch, Sue Bird, Gary Payton and Jewell Loyd – is scheduled for June 23. Proceeds will support Odessa Brown Children’s Clinic, One Love Community Fridge, Pioneer Human Services, and Family First Community Center.
But Baldwin said ticketholders are also benefitting themselves.
“My philosophy is that it's not necessarily your community because your community is my community - it's our community,” he said. "When we are all together on a mission of supporting our community, the health and well-being of our community, we all benefit from that."
Tickets start at just $10 to keep the barrier to entry as low as possible.
Since leaving professional sports, Baldwin said his personal growth has reminded him of lessons from long ago.
“What I've learned is the affirmation of what team sports taught me when I was younger. In order to be successful, in order to win as a team, everybody has to have their role,” he said. "And so I'm realizing that I'm part of a broader team and I have a role in impacting our community for the better."
The desire to serve is based on both his faith and his desire to create a better future.
"The core question is why am I here, and I'm starting to wrestle with this more and more. Why am I on this planet, why am I here? And I don't want to just take up space,” he said. "There's kids that have been coming in here and playing basketball already, and when they get older and they have kids, what impact is it going to have on their kids? I've got three daughters that I'm raising. The things I'm doing now are going to benefit them. I may not be here to see that impact, but I know if I'm doing my work now, when they're older and they have children, their children will be better off because of the work we're doing today."
Family First Community Center is located at 16200 116th Avenue SE in Renton.
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