Long-time Tacoma service provider avoids layoffs for now, but stay-home order taking toll
The Tacoma Community House, a nonprofit, community-based service center for immigrants, refugees and long-time South Sound residents, has had its doors closed for several weeks now.
With its staff working from home because of the coronavirus pandemic, the organization has canceled various volunteer services, including its Read2Me program where volunteers read to young kids, Citizenship Practices and ELA information sessions.
It also canceled its annual luncheon, a fundraiser set to take place on April 17 that also would have commemorated the organization’s 110th anniversary.
That meant it turned to virtual fundraising campaign April 1-3. The result exceeded the $100,000 goal by raising $107,580. The organization is still accepting online donations.
Lauren Walker Lee, executive director of Tacoma Community House (TCH), spoke to the success of the campaign and what she hopes to do with the money raised.
“We are super grateful,” Lee said. “The immigration specialists, accredited by the U.S. Department of Justice, are continuing to work with clients to fill out their applications.”
The organization hopes to continue providing advocacy programs for those at-risk.
“The advocacy program is a program that helps people primarily with legal advocacy, but we have large amounts of domestic violence victims and sexual assault victims,” Lee said. “The staff members are now reaching out to those clients who are stuck at home in many ways and trying to help them with safety plans.”
TCH is planning to start providing many of educational services April 20.
One struggle for the organization during the COVID-19 crisis has been in reaching clients who don’t have access to internet services.
“Trying to figure out how to support people who don’t have video formats, who don’t have WIFI at home,” Lee said. “We did just open our parking lot for free Wi-Fi. We just turned password protections off of the Wi-Fi so our students or clients or the community can use that.”
When it comes to the long term, Lee hopes to be able to come back soon but can’t commit to when that might be.
“I’m guessing it’s going to be beyond May 4,” Lee said. “I’m hoping that it’s not much longer, but we do need to provide a safe and healthy environment.”
Lee said she hopes to avoid layoffs.
“I’ve been worried about having to do layoffs, and this fundraiser at this time really helped to put that decision off until later,” she said. “I have every intent of not doing layoffs but it depends how long this goes.”
This story was originally published April 13, 2020 at 4:08 PM.
