Pierce County Human Services Coalition: 2025 Network Funding Spotlight

Filed Under: Vibrant Community - Posted @ 10:22pm

Guiding Focus of Network  

The Pierce County Human Services Coalition is dedicated to building a stronger community together. The Coalition is made up of human services provider organizations located in and/or serving Pierce County residents. In the interest of building strong families and healthy communities, the Coalition educates and advocates for the effective delivery of human services. 

How Network Was Formed 

The Pierce County Human Services Coalition has been convening for more than 20 years. 

Shared Successes That Have Emerged From This Network 

• Building stronger connections between service providers within the county.  

• Surfacing voice and perspectives from smaller non-profit providers about barriers they face accepting and implementing contracts with government funding.  

• Creating access to circles of influence to address inequities in the contracting process.  

• Providing forums to learn about and address the use of federal and state funds to address housing and homelessness.  

• Access to early information about critical human service resources in Pierce County.  

• Increased engagement in state legislative work to represent the communities within Pierce County Hosting candidate forums. 

1-2 Big Goals Your Network is Hoping to Achieve in 2026 

1. Grow membership and participation. The more organizations we have in the room, the more connections we can make and the better we can leverage our local resources for the benefit of community.  

1. Build advocacy engagement and messaging. Educate ourselves on issues that impact our work, share the challenges and opportunities we identify with community leadership (city, county, state), support one another’s advocacy efforts, build collective messaging. 

Advice For Others Looking to Leverage Networks to Help Build a Thriving Community

Challenges to Anticipate 

• Funding: State budget deficit.  

• Funding volatility: Unanticipated changes in federal funding focus areas and allocations.  

• Costs: Cost of living for constituents. Continued increases in operating costs.  

• Administrative Mandates: Federal directives changing the structure and focus of best practice models  

• Political volatility: Congressional discord stalling the federal budget process 

Tips for Navigating Challenges 

• Information and resource sharing 

• Sharing strategic approaches to address challenges 

• Coordinated advocacy 

How to Build Shared Goals 

• Gather in-person with those doing similar work in your sector and beyond.  

• Brainstorm your priorities, areas of interests, or common needs and find areas of overlap.  

• Identify 2-3 areas of impact and set a goal for each. We have recently hired staff to help us identify areas of potential impact, set goals, create action plans to meet goals, and encourage participation/action toward those goals.  

• Host sessions highlighting speakers with expertise in areas of challenge and change to help shape our approaches to addressing obstacles to providing local services.