Washington West African Center opens Lynnwood thrift store in response to funding cuts

The Washington West African Center opened the Sougou Market’s doors for the first time on Friday, July 11, filling the walls of their Lynnwood-based office space with discounted clothes, toys, electronics, housewares and more.

“Sougou” means “market” in Bambara, one of the languages spoken across the 16 West African countries. Center founder and Executive Director Pa Ousman Joof said the store is inspired by pop-up markets he visited in West Africa, where people can sell donated goods.

Meant to be a place for people to gather and buy what they need at low prices, the market itself was born out of necessity. 

The Center recently lost 80% of its funding, forcing them to discontinue programs and search for new funding sources. 

In the last year, Joof said that the majority of their grant applications have been denied. He added that the Center has seen partners distance themselves after federal policy around immigration has changed. 

This struggle to find funding sources has left Joof to face the question of whether to change the organization’s priorities to appeal to new funders. 

“We are choosing to make the decision of not wanting to run away from ourselves. We want to remain authentic. We want to remain who we are,” he said. “Whereas people and institutions and entities are changing their programs, changing their language, changing their names — we are not changing anything.” 

The Sougou Market is Joof’s creative solution to an urgent issue for the Center. He said that they have received donations from community members for years but had to pay for extra storage before giving items away.

Joof said the Center will continue donating to people in need but will now operate the market to allow others to buy discounted items while supporting the Center’s programming.

“In a nutshell, even when we collect money from the community, it’s going to go back to them to run the afterschool program, to run the housing,” he said. 

The market will also provide the Center with more flexible funding they can use to support a range of programs, unlike grant funding which can be more restrictive, Joof said. 

“Money driven from this will allow us to flex our muscles and do the things that our community actually genuinely needs that they wouldn’t typically have access to,” he said.  

The market is a chance for the center to sustain itself and support community members while remaining true to their mission to support West Africans in Washington. 

“It’s a long-term vision,” said Abhishek Patel, a financial assistant at the center. “We have no idea how it’s going to go, but we believe in the vision, and that’s why everyone is putting all their efforts to make it successful.” 

The market is open 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. Monday through Saturday. The Center is accepting donations on its website and asks customers to bring gently used items to the Lynnwood location — at 19203 36th Ave. W., #210 — to help keep the market stocked.