
Community
Community Stories
13
It Takes A Community To Build A Community For All Ages

The Mustard Seed Project on Key Peninsula, like most nonprofit businesses, achieves its mission through a mix of vision, funding, and broad community support. As the organization has grown its impact and revenue, connections with diverse funders and philanthropic tools help further secure its long-term stability. Multi-generational bingo at The Mustard Seed Project “Getting older > Continue Reading
16
Flexible Funding Makes the Magic Happen Sooner

At a time when more people than ever are accessing food banks, a larger warehouse will expand Emergency Food Network’s (EFN) ability to distribute food to Pierce County people in need. However, financing the capital project meant overcoming barriers nonprofits face to flexible funding. A pilot bridge loan program from Elevate Health and Greater Tacoma > Continue Reading
7
Housing Equity Starts With Those Most Lacking Equity

Kiara Daniels remembers what it was like to buy a home in the quickly gentrifying Hilltop neighborhood where she grew up, “There were so many tears. First, I made not-enough money. And then I had to go out, hustle, and try to make more money. Then, I had to worry about making too much > Continue Reading
12
Youth Leaders Central To Ending Youth & Young Adult Homelessness in Pierce County

It’s a scenario that happens all too often. A young person is kicked out of their home, or leaves on their own after a family conflict. They reach out to friends for help, and stay on one couch for a few days, then another and another, and so on. Wanting to figure out a more > Continue Reading
12
Legacy Giving Can Transform the Future of Pierce County

In 2021, GTCF commissioned a Transfer of Wealth report that showed Pierce County has a household net worth of $269 Billion. Over the next 10 years, our community will see $48.6 Billion transfer from one generation to the next. Soon after that report was released, Leave 10 South Sound launched. Leave 10 South Sound > Continue Reading
12
A Strategy for a Thriving Pierce County

One of the earliest GTCF annual reports, in 1983, put forth an idea that is just as relevant today, “the community foundation may be a catalyst to convince disparate groups to work together towards a common objective. Thus, over the years, a community foundation becomes a collection of many stories. Each tells how people > Continue Reading
10
Threading the Needle: Donating Business Interests to Charity
Because business owners are focused on the growth and success of their business, they may not have philanthropy on their radar right away. However, if they decide to sell their business, they have an opportunity to make a major impact for the causes and organizations in their community that matter to them. Often referred > Continue Reading
29
Young-Adult Leaders Use Local History to Build Blueprint for the Future

As racial and political tensions were at an all-time high across the U.S. in the late 60’s, Tacoma’s Hilltop neighborhood reached a boiling point, stirring up an event known as the 1969 Mother’s Day Uprising. Blackpast.org recounts the event: “An attempted arrest on the Hilltop led to a night of angry, youthful confrontation > Continue Reading
29
Local Journalism and Local Funders Fuel Civic Voice and Power

Local journalism can make the difference between getting involved in community solutions or being caught off guard by events that arise from otherwise unseen issues. That was the case following a recent article from the nonprofit news site, Gig Harbor Now (GHN). Newcomers could see how beautiful the view is, but I wanted them to > Continue Reading
29
Loving Tacoma for the Long Term

Sitting around the dining room table at her family’s Tacoma home, Ann Wiborg and a group of fellow local leaders met in the Fall of 1977. They shared a vision of supporting the needs and opportunities of their community for generations to come. Four years later, Greater Tacoma Community Foundation (GTCF) officially launched with $10,000 > Continue Reading