By Marianne Lincoln, Steve Decker and Rev. Samara Jenkins

Family Promise of Pierce County is now fully staffed, and has completed staff training. The Day Center is open daily now and the Annex Shelter is still under renovation to house a few of our local homeless families.  Calls are coming in and referrals are happening. Our CEO is so computer savvy, our web page shows up first in national searches for homeless resources for families. So he has been busy referring people to other affiliates across the US that see us first.

It has been almost over a year since we gathered for our community information session to introduce the Family Promise of Pierce County to the masses!  To see the dream of Family Promise of Pierce County become a reality is more than we could have ever imagined! Hard work, dedication, and heart for families has made a difference in what the last 525,600 minutes have meant in the lives of so many, and FPPC hasn’t even OFFICIALLY started yet!

In this first year we have received grants, created an executive and administrative board, adopted bylaws, hired CEO Steve Decker, hired a Project Manager, Tamara Bobrovytska, and two case managers.

This month we have worked on the Annex Shelter. The damaged plumbing was removed, repair has begun, and the landscape was cleaned up. The Bethel Portable has been painted, interior walls have been built, and the offices are functional. 8 PC’s were donated by Pierce Health and others donated monitors. Our staff web portal is live and all staff and board members have their own emails.

Operations began Jan 2, 2024. The Shelter, while not “operational” has housed families this Thursday – Sunday during the extreme cold snap. We have volunteers lined up for each night. Clean 2 Shine cleaned the Annex Shelter for free. 

We need kennels for client pets. A range/stove for the Day Shelter, kids books, toys and furniture for the day shelter, more once the Annex Shelter is fully opened. People can learn more at https://familypromisepiercecounty.org

In all, great progress has been made since the idea was presented in January 2023. We are looking forward to being fully operational in the not-to-distant future.