New emergency shelter opens for homeless families. It’s first one in this part of county
A new emergency shelter for families experiencing homelessness has opened south of Tacoma, the first of its kind in the Spanaway/Parkland area.
The six-bedroom shelter will be operated by Family Promise of Pierce County, a relatively new organization that has had small-scale success working to get unhoused families back on their feet. The organization has reportedly helped more than 50 families get into sustainable housing situations since the beginning of 2024.
Family Promise of Pierce County co-founder Jessica Pair said the new shelter was made possible by over $500,000 in combined grant funding from the county and the state, as well as donations. The shelter next to Spanaway United Methodist Church is being leased from the church, which Pair said previously used the building as a preschool.
Pair said the building previously had three bedrooms before being renovated to serve its new purpose. It previously had a kitchen, a dining room and a living room that have been converted into additional bedrooms.
She said with help from an IKEA grant the building will have its kitchen appliances removed in place of cupboards and a microwave to warm baby bottles and quick snacks for families staying there.
The shelter will work in conjunction with Family Promise of Pierce County’s office and day center, headquartered in a portable on the Spanaway Elementary School property. The portable was given to Family Promise of Pierce County by the Bethel School District, which Pair said helped the young organization make a “big leap forward.”
That location, just blocks away, has a full kitchen, showers, computers and children’s play area. Families can use the day center to access the internet and apply for services, get a hot meal or just relax.
The organization, in partnership with Bethel School District and other school districts, coordinates to make sure that students staying with their families at the shelter and day center get transportation to school, even in Tacoma.
Pair said they hope to have partnerships and locations with all of the school districts in Pierce County.
“We will never give up quality of service for quantity,” she told The News Tribune.
Pair attributed the organization’s success in helping dozens of families into sustainable housing to the intensive efforts of case managers on staff who work to support families. She said case managers are available seven days a week and contact families several times a week to help them.
Family Promise of Pierce County’s other founder, Spanaway United Methodist Church pastor Samara Jenkins, described the organization’s approach as one that break down barriers.
“A hand up instead of a hand out,” Jenkins said of Family Promise’s goal during the new shelter’s ribbon-cutting ceremony on May 8.
After receiving $1 million in grant funding from the county in April, Family Promise of Pierce County hired four additional case managers who work to offer 24/7 call support and coordination to get individuals and families into emergency shelters across the county.
The organization uses an artificial intelligence-supported system designed by its CEO Steve Decker to help case managers contact clients and make the social work bureaucracy more manageable for the families that need to use it.
