ORCA Recovery Card distribution in Hing Hay Park. Photo Credit: SDOT. A few weeks ago, we announced our new ORCA Recovery Card program. We are happy to report that, in partnership with the Seattle Department of Neighborhoods (DON), we have distributed 1,569 six-month unlimited ORCA cards to help get Seattle employees to work affordably and efficiently!
We distributed these cards to people working in the Chinatown, Little Saigon, Japantown, and Pioneer Square neighborhoods in food service and grocery industries.
We began distributing the cards on June 21 at Hing Hay Park in the Chinatown-International District. Distribution continued through July 2, but did not occur from June 26-28 due to excessive heat.
We partnered with the Community Liaison program within the DON. Community Liaisons who speak Vietnamese, Cantonese, Mandarin, and Spanish helped staff each distribution event to provide language support for participants. During the second week of distribution, Community Liaisons went door-to-door to businesses in the eligible geographic area to speak with employees about the program and continue distributing cards to those unable to pickup their card during the distribution events. We heard from people we spoke to that it was easy to pick up the card and it will help make their day-to-day access to work much easier.
Thank you for making this program possible!
The ORCA Recovery Card program is possible thanks to 80 percent of Seattle voters passing Proposition 1 last November, which created a revenue source for more frequent, reliable, accessible bus service in our city. Through a 0.15% sales tax (the equivalent of 15 cents on a $100 purchase) you are directly supporting COVID recovery in your community.