Anchor Communities Initiative

The County has made available, in accordance with Pierce County Comprehensive Plan to End Homelessness (CPEH), Anchor Communities Initiative (ACI) funding from the Department of Commerce. This funding supports an integrated homeless response system of housing assistance that quickly re-houses households who are experiencing homelessness, through Street Outreach Services (SOS) and Young Adult Shelter (YAS). As stated in RCW 84.14.010 (8), a 'household' refers to a single person, family, or unrelated persons living together. Services are available to youth and young adults (YYA) experiencing or at-risk of homelessness in the County.

In March 2022, Pierce County officially adopted a Comprehensive Plan to End Homelessness or CPEH Plan, that aims to document the scale of the need and to design a system to end homelessness in Pierce County. The CPEH Plan is designed to achieve “functional zero” – a state where any person starting a new episode of homelessness has immediate access to shelter and a permanent housing intervention.

With this solicitation, the County seeks to attract and fund Street Outreach and Emergency Shelter projects (more detail about eligible interventions can be found below in the Eligible Project Types & Additional Expectations section) as part of the Homeless Crisis Response System (HCRS). This effort is in direct support of the CPEH Plan Goal 5 (Meet immediate needs of people experiencing homelessness) and only Street Outreach and Emergency Shelter projects that support this goal will be accepted and moved to the review process.