$20M project will double number of beds at Tacoma’s largest homeless shelter
A $20 million expansion and renovation of Tacoma’s largest homeless shelter is underway.
The work at Tacoma Rescue Mission, which will roughly double the facility’s available beds, comes following the city’s closure of nearly 200 shelter beds in the previous year.
The expansion of the men’s shelter at Tacoma Rescue Mission’s campus, 425 South Tacoma Way, will remodel 8,000 square feet of existing space and add 24,000 square feet of new space.
The project has been funded by contributions from multiple governments. Tacoma Rescue Mission’s grant writer Emily Koo reported securing $5.5 million from Pierce County, $5 million from the Washington Department of Commerce, $4 million in federal funding, $3.5 million from the City of Tacoma as well as funding from private donors.
Tacoma Rescue Mission deputy director Myron Bernard told The News Tribune expansion will increase the number of available shelter beds from 90 to more than 185.
The project will double the number of toilets and sinks in the facility as well as add a furnished day center for people to come inside and comfortably wait for intake and services.
Bernard said the facility previously did not have a space like that and instead used a “wide hallway” that would be “overrun” by people during inclement weather.
Haley Uliana, marketing manager for Tacoma Rescue Mission, said the organization would expand its recovery program, which aims to help people address the root causes of substance abuse through a year-long program. She said the program previously had 25 dormitory-style beds and will soon have 50.
While construction on the project was previously estimated to be completed by summer 2026, Uliana said the timeline has become more of a “moving target” through the construction process.
The organization has 17 case managers helping navigate and support unhoused individuals back into stability, but Tacoma Rescue Mission says it will soon ask the city and the county for funding to support more staff as the facility expands.
In 2025, the City of Tacoma closed nearly 200 shelter beds due to anticipated funding shortfalls. As the largest shelter provider in Pierce County, Bernard says Tacoma Rescue Mission has felt the stress of the demand placed by those displaced by the closures.
“They are experiencing the pain this causes in our community,” Bernard told The News Tribune. “They look to us to have answers we can’t always provide.”
Uliana said Tacoma Rescue Mission will need increased support to address the demand for shelter and services in the community — either through volunteers or donations.
The organization is reliant on volunteers of various skills levels, ranging from high school students helping landscape to professionals helping to do accounting.
In 2025, the organization benefited from more than 38,844 volunteer labor hours across 2,687 unique volunteers. Tacoma Rescue Mission estimates the value of volunteer labor in 2025 to be equivalent to more than $1.2 million in wages.
