Safe Parking Update 

You may have read in the Tacoma News Tribune that the “first” Safe Parking site in Tacoma will be opening in April 2023. What this means is that this is the first Safe Parking site to be funded by the City of Tacoma in collaboration with Catholic Community Services who are providing the space. The TUUC site is funded by Pierce County. 

The new Tacoma location will be on the site of Holy Rosary Catholic Church. The funding provides for paid managers and staff and the site will include showering facilities, laundry facilities, and some supportive services. It is not part of the Tacoma/Pierce County Safe Parking network, so some of their guidelines will be different. 

You all have rocked the house with your extremely generous donations of Safeway gift cards and cash to purchase gift cards. We give one to each guest when we welcome them to the site and they are extremely grateful. Thus far you have donated $640 in cards and $229.60 in cash. We have converted the cash to gift cards to make sure that each guest gets a $25 card. We’ll keep you posted on other possible supplies to donate. 

We continue to host a full complement of vehicles – 5 – with guests moving to new locations and other guests moving in. All of our guests are employed and are working with the Safe Parking coordinating team from New Hope Resource Center to find housing. This is a requirement of the program as outlined by funding requirements. The coordinating team is also working to bring supportive services to our guests on site. 

Deep gratitude to: 

• Congregants who generously donate their time to keep the parking lot clean and the porta potty clean and well-stocked: Rochelle Gandour-Rood (and sometimes Eli and Olive Gandour-Rood), Chris George, Rob Ramsey, Scott Redman, Pam Jenkins, Sheila Whybrow, Tim Crabtree, Staci Kopcha (and sometimes Jonas, Layla and Tristan Kopcha), Julia Sijka, Dave Hackett, Joe MacKay, Wayne Withrow, Cat Garretson-Bilnoski, Jim Bilnoski, and Cindy Hackett. 
• Committee members who meet weekly to share information and keep the program on track and moving forward: Cat Garretson-Bilnoski, Jim Bilnoski, Stacey Soltoff, Staci Kopcha, Mary Berry, Cindy and Dave Hackett, Rev. Linda Hart, and TUUC Administrator Libby Ball. ● All of you who support the program with good wishes and gift cards. 

We are doing important, life saving work every day and we could not do it without this amazing community. We are grateful for the work of this congregation within and outside our walls.