Community
29
2026
Tacoma-Pierce County Affordable Housing Consortium: 2025 Network Funding Spotlight
Guiding Focus of Network
To increase the development and preservation of affordable housing across Pierce County, WA.
How Network Was Formed
The Tacoma-Pierce County Affordable Housing Consortium (AHC) began in 2001 as a caucus of local nonprofit affordable housing developers who came together to address shared challenges, including regulatory barriers, advocacy priorities, and the need to expand funding for affordable housing across Pierce County. This early collaboration focused on creating a coordinated voice around policy, programs, and opportunities to strengthen the region’s affordable housing ecosystem.
In January 2003, the group formalized its work by incorporating as a nonprofit organization in the State of Washington, adopting bylaws, selecting a Board of Directors, and electing officers. By February 2006, AHC received its 501(c)(3) tax-exempt status from the Internal Revenue Service and had grown to 28 members and affiliates meeting regularly. That same year, the Board hired its first Executive Director to establish an active, public-facing presence and coordinate the Consortium’s expanding role as a regional convener, advocate, and resource for affordable housing in Pierce County.
Shared Successes That Have Emerged From This Network
One of the network’s greatest shared successes has been building a coordinated, countywide voice for affordable housing that brings together developers, service providers, public agencies, funders, and community partners around common goals. Today, AHC’s membership represents over 70 organizations that collectively provide more than 7,500 affordable homes for low-income families, seniors, and individuals exiting homelessness across Pierce County.
Through this collaboration, the network has helped translate advocacy into real investment and policy change. In the last year alone, partners worked together to help secure $12 million in state funding for local affordable housing projects. The network also supported the passage of new local revenue options for affordable housing, generating approximately $20 million annually in Pierce County and $8 million annually in the City of Tacoma through a voter-approved one-tenth of one percent sales tax.
On the policy side, the network has played a key role in shaping landlord-tenant laws to both strengthen renter protections and ensure affordable housing providers can continue to operate sustainably. This includes coordinated testimony, data-sharing, and provider engagement to inform local ordinances and state legislation that balance housing stability for tenants with the financial realities of operating mission-driven affordable housing.
Looking ahead, the network is building new partnerships to strengthen alignment between philanthropic funding and development timelines. AHC is working to partner with local and regional foundations and plans to host a roundtable between foundations and developers to better understand funding cycles, priorities, and opportunities to more effectively support the creation and preservation of affordable housing across Pierce County.
1-2 Big Goals Your Network is Hoping to Achieve in 2026
This year, the Consortium is focused on strengthening the systems that make affordable housing possible, from how it is funded and regulated to how long-term operations are sustained. Providers are increasingly struggling from increasing costs of development, staffing, property damage, and insurance rates.
A top priority is advancing state and local advocacy to increase funding for the operating and maintenance of affordable housing, address rising insurance costs, and expand flexibility in key housing revenue tools, including local sales tax and document recording fee programs, so resources can better meet on-the-ground needs.
AHC is also deepening its role as a convener by building new partnerships with foundations, financial institutions, and developers. A key goal for the year is to host a roundtable between foundations and housing developers to better align funding cycles, priorities, and investment timing to help move projects from concept to construction more efficiently.
At the organizational level, the Consortium is prioritizing long-term sustainability and capacity-building. As a growing, countywide network currently supported by a single staff member, AHC is working to expand staffing, strengthen internal systems, and grow the membership base so it can continue to effectively support partners, coordinate advocacy, and manage the increasing scale and complexity of the network. Together, these goals reflect AHC’s commitment to pairing advocacy with collaboration by ensuring that Pierce County not only builds more affordable homes, but has the funding, policies, and capacity in place to sustain progress for the long term.
Advice For Others Looking to Leverage Networks to Help Build a Thriving Community
Challenges to Anticipate
One of the biggest challenges in building and sustaining a strong network is capacity—the staffing, coordination, and organizational infrastructure required to keep partners engaged, informed, and moving in the same direction. As networks grow, so does the complexity of aligning schedules, priorities, and perspectives across diverse organizations and sectors.
Equally critical is the need for a clear, shared vision. Without strong alignment around common goals and outcomes, even well-intentioned networks can struggle to move from conversation to coordinated action. The most valuable asset a network can have is the ability to convene partners around a compelling, shared vision—and the capacity to consistently bring people together, translate that vision into priorities, and sustain momentum over time.
Tips for Navigating Challenges
Working through these challenges requires a combination of intentional leadership, strong relationships, and shared ownership across the network. Much of this work happens through sustained, one-on-one relationship-building—taking the time to listen, build trust, and understand how policies and funding decisions impact organizations on the ground.
Clear, honest communication—paired with concrete examples and data—is essential to moving from concern to action. By grounding advocacy in real-world experiences and credible information, the network can more effectively inform policymakers and partners about why change is needed and what solutions will make a meaningful difference.
Momentum also depends on broad participation. Lasting progress happens when many voices across the network speak up—sharing how they are affected and how proposed changes can help the people and communities they serve. When partners take ownership of both the challenges and the solutions, the network is better positioned to move forward together and turn alignment into impact.
How to Build Shared Goals
Building shared goals starts with identifying shared values. In housing, partners may not always agree on specific strategies or revenue tools, but there is often broad alignment around a core principle: that people deserve access to safe, stable, and affordable housing. Establishing that common ground creates a foundation for meaningful collaboration.
From there, goals are strengthened when they are informed by data, research, and real-world stories. Pairing values with credible analysis helps the network move beyond abstract agreement to clear, actionable priorities—such as defining how much housing is needed, what it will take to preserve existing homes, and which solutions are most likely to make a measurable impact.
Another effective approach is to identify common challenges tied to those shared values. For example, when providers struggle to operate and maintain affordable housing, the risk is not just financial—it is the potential loss of homes. Framing goals around protecting and expanding housing supply connects day-to-day challenges back to the network’s larger purpose.
Ultimately, a clear “North Star” guides the process. When values shape the vision, and that vision is broken down into achievable, well-defined steps, the network is better positioned to move together and turn alignment into lasting results.
Any Additional Advice
Building and sustaining a network requires a distinct set of skills and sustained leadership. Many networks struggle not because the mission isn’t important, but because there isn’t enough capacity or the right kind of facilitation in place to keep people aligned, engaged, and moving toward shared outcomes.
Successful networks benefit from leaders who can organize around a clear, shared vision and support that vision with strong structure—through consistent calendaring, convenings, peer learning opportunities, information-sharing, and clear feedback loops so participants can see how their time and input are shaping real progress.
Relationship-building is at the heart of this work. It often requires significant one-on-one engagement to build trust, demonstrate the value of participation, and ensure people feel their voices matter. Without that, even well-intentioned partners can become fatigued—especially when they are already stretched thin within their own organizations.
Clarity and credibility are also essential. Networks are most resilient when participants understand not only the policy process, but the real-world implications of the issues they are working on—why a change matters, who it affects, and what success would look like. That level of understanding takes time, research, and continuous learning, but it is what builds confidence and trust in the network’s leadership.
Ultimately, networks thrive when they are purpose-driven and well-supported. Being specific about goals, securing genuine buy-in, and investing in the people and systems that hold the work together can help prevent burnout and ensure that collective energy translates into lasting, meaningful impact.