‘Lift everybody up.’ High hopes abound as new community center opens in Pierce County
Since a 116-year-old Parkland school was saved from demolition last year, it’s become the home base for a number of new tenants, including a nonprofit combating family homelessness, a local Kiwanis chapter and a community association.
The building at 214 121st St. S. will open to the public for the first time on Jan. 25 from noon to 3 p.m. during an open house and fundraising event with a silent auction, music and food. The money will support the Parkland Community Association’s efforts to raise enough money to pay back Pacific Lutheran University, which helped the association purchase the building.
For Family Promise of Pierce County CEO Steve Decker, securing the space is a “huge deal” for the organization. Since October the nonprofit has transformed a floor of the historic school to become a sort of “emergency room for homelessness,” to help people experiencing homelessness find resources, emergency shelter and snacks 24/7.
As reported by The News Tribune, the rate of homelessness is up in Pierce County, and Decker hasn’t seen any decrease in need.
Decker said the nonprofit completes intake paperwork for an average of 15 new people or families a day. The place is Pierce County’s only centralized shelter hub where people can work with staff to coordinate with local shelters to find them a place to stay. Per its contracts, Family Promise of Pierce County can’t prepare food, provide beds or offer hygienic amenities like showers to people awaiting shelter.
Since The News Tribune last toured the building in May, its roof has been patched, leaks are being fixed and the furnace is being repaired, Parkland Community Association member Wendy Freeman said.
The building will be home to the Parkland Community Association, Kiwanis of Parkland-Spanaway and the Sons and Daughters of Italy, said Freeman while giving a tour of the updated space on Monday. Concordia Christian Academy is holding its basketball practices in the gym, and mentoring group Dad’s M.O.V.E. is interested in space as well, she said. With 36,000 square feet of available space, Freeman said the center could host up to eight tenants.
‘People need to address the issues of the people living here’
The first time the Parkland Community Association had its meeting in the basement, Freeman said she was moved to tears when she heard the squeaking shoes of kids playing basketball in the gym because she was so excited to see the building full of life again.
Freeman said she hopes next week’s open house would encourage more people to see the space for themselves and get their questions answered. When the Parkland Community Association was in the process of acquiring the building, Freeman said, the group received negative comments and threats from the public like, “If you get homeless people in there, I’m burning the place down.”
“In the early days, there was a lot of misunderstanding and miscommunication [about what the building would be used for], and people were confused and people were afraid, and that’s all understandable,” Freeman said.
Decker said the comments were received before it was announced that Family Promise would be a tenant in the building. There was much debate online from those who wanted the entire building to be an emergency shelter and others who opposed the building being used that way, he said.
When people get frustrated or angry, whether it’s about littering or homelessness, that builds a lot of energy and power that needs to be channeled in more positive ways, Freeman said.
“Parkland has issues, and it has for a while. People need to address the issues of the people living here. We need to be self supporting. We need to deal with it ourselves,” she said. “And that’s a hard pill for people to swallow. It’s easier, it’s safer if somebody else will just call and then they’ll come and take care of those people, or whatever it happens to be. There’s a lot of frustration in the community.”
Freeman said the open house will give people a better outlet to express their frustrations and make the community better, perhaps through volunteering. She also welcomes public input.
“What’s the cliche, you know? ‘If one rises, we all rise,’” Freeman said. “That’s the idea, to just kind of lift everybody up.”
This story was originally published January 14, 2025 at 5:00 AM.
