With the passage of the Tacoma camping ban extension last week and the announcement that EBT/SNAP benefits will not be issued for hungry families in November, it can be easy for us to lose hope.
However, we, the supporters of a better Tacoma, continue steadfast in our path towards fairness and equity for those impacted by the leadership of Catholic Community Services ending programming for those experiencing homelessness at Nativity House Day Center.
Some of Nativity House’s former strengths were the offerings of warm food, relief from the weather, sharing space with community members, and knowledgeable direction from supportive staff. Staffers released from service at CCS join the ranks of 11,000 federal workers who are furloughed or no longer being paid.
With food support benefits paused for next month, fewer places for those living outside to exist without criminalization, even less shelters from the elements, and still more CCS staff without employment, we lean on one another and our community for fortitude and solidarity. We share inspiring words from a Tacoma community leader:
“As a pastor with 40-plus years working with those in our midst experiencing homelessness and a season as the nighttime supervisor at Nativity House, I have witnessed much hardship with plentiful grace. I am dismayed at the uncertain funding for the life-altering ministry provided to our neighbors by Nativity House in the future.
Reducing services puts more of our neighbors at risk, increases pain and hardship, and only creates a downward spiral into hopelessness for those who need our help the most. Reducing staffing at The Nativity House puts the staff, guests, and community at a heightened risk, and dilutes the potential for creating a pathway toward stability for our most vulnerable.
I implore Catholic Community Services to find a way to maintain the lifesaving level of funding and staffing for Nativity House!” - Reverend Gordon (Pastor Gordy) Hutchins, Pastor at Evergreen Grace of Tacoma.
During the good times and the hungry times, all we have is our community. While CCS leadership remains silent about the camping ban and shutters their day shelter and kitchen doors, Eloise’s Cooking Pot Food Bank is continuing their incredible work feeding the community.
Tomorrow, Wednesday, Oct 29 - Eloise’s Cooking Pot Food Bank will host an Emergency Community Food Distribution from 10am until 3pm at the Tacoma Dome in Parking Lot A: “The large-scale distribution is free and open to the public. Households will receive boxes of food to help bridge the gap caused by lost or delayed benefits. No pre-registration is required; drive-through and walk-up service will be available.” More info: https://tacomaweekly.com/emergency-food-distribution-in-response-to-government-shutdown-snap-reduct-p10914-222.htm
Catholic Community Services leadership has changed the ways their discretionary funding can be spent and those funds will not be used to support essential programs that are not profitable, like the Nativity House Day Center.
Publicly, CCS management stated the closure was due to the uncertain federal funding landscape and that there has been no change to discretionary funding support to sustain CCS programs. At the Tacoma Pierce County Coalition to End Homelessness meeting on May 30, 2025: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wBlP7Doq098 the change in CCS’s discretionary spending structure is announced during a Q&A response (starting at 24:14). Community partners did not know how this protocol shift would impact Tacoma families.
We ask everyone to share these updates with their friends and family, ask them to sign this petition and even more importantly - come through to help our homeless and hungry neighbors by supporting Eloise’s Cooking Pot Food Bank.
Donations can be made to Eloise’s Cooking Pot Food Bank through Making A Difference Foundation https://themadf.org/donate and in-person volunteer opportunities are available at https://themadf.org/volunteer-2.
We stand together!