Homelessness has been a major topic in Tacoma news lately. Just this past week, the Tacoma/Pierce County Coalition to End Homelessness announced that the city would be funding [a $100,000 study to identify “pain points”](https://www.thenewstribune.com/news/local/article311584979.html) in the city’s ‘Coordinated Entry’ program, which seeks to steer current and potentially unhoused Tacoma residents into mitigation and relief programs.
“Before Coordinated Entry, if you became homeless in Pierce County, you needed to call up every different service provider and check if they had any openings in their programs,” data specialist and Coordinated Entry consultant Gerrit Nyland explained. “And that was the case in almost every other community across the country.”
Over the past several years, Tacoma has seen a dramatic increase in the number of unhoused people living both in shelters and on the streets. The most recent count showed that homelessness increased more than 20% between 2023 and 2024. A fact that has the city searching for answers. It’s a problem that the Tribe has a strong history of grappling with head on.
The Puyallup Tribe hasn’t shied away from the problems of increasing homelessness in and around the South Sound. With a seemingly ever increasing need for improved services, the tribe has organized regular food & clothing drives, as well as creating their own community diversion programs for families struggling with housing instability.
“We have all been in a hard spot at some time and it’s really important that we don’t forget where we came from and we don’t forget there is other people that are having a hard time. To see all of these people volunteering, it warms the heart and makes you feel really good about humanity, caring and compassion,” Tribal Council Vice Chairwoman Sylvia Miller said in a statement last December, while hosting the Puyallup Tribe’s annual ‘Helping the Homeless’ event alongside her sister and fellow Councilmember Monica Miller.
“The Puyallup Tribe has been so generous to do this every year. We have so many volunteers and so many people that care about our community. It is really heartwarming.”
Miller has been an especially strong supporter of the fight to end homelessness, as the principal organizer of the annual food, clothing, and household goods drive that the Tribe sponsors each winter.
The Tribe’s efforts don’t end at simple donations and events. The Tribe’s Tiny Homes program offers un-housed tribal members a short-term roof over their heads. And the housing assistance program can provide rent and mortgage relief for families and individuals struggling to pay bills.
The tribe’s Community Family Services department offers a wide range of programs and support to help those struggling with addiction treatment and support. Combined with other wellness programs offering support to vulnerable adults and children the Puyallup Tribe provides a comprehensive roadmap to combating a growing problem. It seems like the kind of map that Tacoma should be looking to follow.
