Community gathering by Progress Pushers means more than just dodgeball
Published 12:58 pm Thursday, April 9, 2026
Community members of all ages played dodgeball and showed off their double-dutch skills at an annual event hosted by Mahogany Purpose on March 28 at Todd Beamer High School in Federal Way.
Her annual ‘80s Dodgeball FUN-raiser event brought people together to raise money for Progress Pushers, an organization based in Federal Way that empowers and supports youth of color.
Purpose has been hosting the event since 2014 as a tribute to her brother Jamaal, who was murdered when she was 19. Rather than planning a birthday party for herself that year, she planned a community event to bring people together and raise money for something positive.
Past ‘80s Dodgeball FUN-raisers benefitted Transform Burien and Washington Building Leaders of Change (WA-BLOC) Children’s Defense Fund Freedom Schools.
This year’s event had a new focus on mental health, highlighting the importance of seeking help and support when it is needed rather than letting shame get in the way.
Participants came from all over the region to play dodgeball and break down the stigma, including Deaunte Damper, VP of the Therapy Fund Foundation, community service leader Melvin Slaughter and local youth leaders Carlecia Bell of Phenomenal She and Winston Bell of Game of Life Mentoring.
Local organizations competed in teams — and got to participate in a free-for-all where everyone was invited to toss and dodge the colorful balls as they flew across the gymnasium.
The Center for Children and Youth Justice, Black Therapy Fund and staff from the City of Seattle’s Human Services Department had a team (City of Seattle HSD actually had two), and the remaining teams were made up of relatives, youth and community participants (i.e. “free agents”) who attended the event.
Aside from dodgeball, the Double-Dutch Divas got both adults and young people to show off their jump-rope skills and a DJ kept the energy high.
Vendors included a local author, community members selling crafts, and mental health providers.
‘It was like freedom’
The majority of the afternoon focused on fun and community connection. Purpose brought the deeper theme out and shared her own story of struggling with mental health challenges — for the first time in public.
Purpose shared that the exponential trauma of losing her brother and the onset of postpartum depression with the birth of her son years later, as well as the other pressures of life, became too much to handle on her own.
Her shame around the fact that she was struggling delayed her choice to get help.
“I was so ashamed, so embarrassed, that I was just holding everything,” Purpose said. “I was still trying to figure out how to take the poison out of me … but once I started talking to somebody, it was like freedom.”
This support made all the difference for her and she encouraged those facing similar struggles to ask for help.
Progress Pushers board member and program participant Ismael Holmes also spoke and shared a positive song that he wrote.
“We don’t control children, we influence them … it’s on us to influence the children to be the best they know how to be,” Holmes said.
Coach Jordan PA hosted a table representing himself and his wife who is a therapist, Dr. Monique Jordan of SAFE Therapeutic Support Services.
Coach Jordan spoke to the importance of having an outlet to share your mental health challenges, likening it to a metaphor of the breath.
“You’ve got to get the poison out!” Jordan said. “I did 20 years of respiratory therapy — people think you breathe harder when you exercise because they need more oxygen. Turns out, you breathe harder because you need to get more carbon dioxide out.”
Jordan’s tip for the day: a breathing exercise involving a six-second inhale, two-second breath hold, seven-second exhale. In just two breaths, this exercise gives 30 seconds of calm.
