Profiles in Pierce County Community Leadership

Filed Under: Community Reinvestment Project - Posted @ 1:42pm

Local farms that support food sovereignty. A family resource center that offers bi-lingual cooking classes. Counseling and recovery programs that utilize traditional wellness practices. A sports program that helps Native Youth reconnect with their cultural heritage through lacrosse, a historically Indigenous game.  These are examples of just a few of the Pierce County organizations a Local Advisory Team recommended funding based on those organizations’ support and service to their communities.  

In July 2024, Greater Tacoma Community Foundation (GTCF) contracted with the Washington State Department of Commerce to support delivery of nearly $1.8 million in Community Reinvestment Project funds to Pierce County communities through a Local Advisory Team (LAT).  The Community Reinvestment Project (CRP) is a community-designed plan to uplift Black, Latine, and Indigenous communities disproportionately harmed by the historical design/enforcement of criminal laws and penalties for drug possession (otherwise known as the war on drugs).  GTCF convened an 8-member Pierce County Local Advisory Team to surface pressing needs in the communities, envision desired outcomes for CRP funding, and develop a plan for distributing funds.

After engaging in a design session with UW-Tacoma Global Innovation & Design Lab to help develop a process for distributing the CRP regrant funding, the Pierce County Local Advisory Team recommended $1.8 million in CRP funding and an additional $239K in GTCF aligned funding to 30 By/For Black, Latine, and Indigenous organizations in Pierce County. 

GTCF invited all the recipients to share about their organization and how this Community Reinvestment Project funding is helping accelerate their work in Pierce County. Below are profiles of the organizations that offered information about their work.

Click on the links below to learn about how these organizations started, the community-led solutions they’re providing, and how Community Reinvestment Project funding accelerated their work.

Bailey & Bailey Counseling and Consultation
Bowed G Family Farms
Esperanza Móvil
Free253
Making A Difference Foundation
Meaningful Movies
Mi Chiantla
Pilates Tacoma
Power of Two
Rainier Scholars
Raising Girls
Rytek Technology
Vision Step Team

See full list of all the organizations who received CRP Funding directed by the Pierce County Local Advisory

Contact GTCF to learn more about how you can help accelerate community-led solutions in Pierce County.