Rebuilding Together South Sound & Salal Rooted in Community

Each Rebuilding Together affiliate is rooted in community. We know community is the foundation of every state, city, county, neighborhood and home. When we align our efforts with community spaces, like transitional housing facility, New Connections, in downtown Tacoma, Wash., we can work toward our shared aspirations of safe homes and communities for all.

For more than two decades, New Connections has helped women get a fresh start and worked toward a society where incarceration is rare, brief and non-recurring. In what began as an outreach ministry for previously incarcerated people, New Connections serves single women, women with children, justice impacted people and families—particularly those with limited resources—and people experiencing homelessness. New Connections runs two houses for women recently released from prison, Irma’s Place and Annie’s Cottage. Through these programs, women are provided housing, emergency services, intensive case management, advocacy and re-entry support for up to three months. Many residents have minor children.

Through our partnership with Salal Credit Union, Rebuilding Together South Sound was able to provide New Connections with essential, no-cost home safety and priority maintenance repairs so it can continue to offer residents safe housing and support. Volunteers demolished a rotten ramp, provided exterior cleanup and installed a four-foot fence made of hog wire panels around the property to create a secure area, adding to a sense of safety, while maintaining a visually open space. After the volunteer portion of the project, we built a new ramp, installed new kitchen storage and completed some flooring repairs.

Additionally, this women-led and women-focused project included a She Builds component – a powerful collaboration between neighbors and partners who are dedicated to advancing housing and community issues affecting women. She Builds programing includes participants sharing skills and experiences to learn and empower each other to maintain safe and healthy homes, make a difference in their communities and build a supportive community network.

Rebuilding Together South Sound aims to strengthen bonds with fellow community stakeholders with a goal of working with at least one nonprofit organization each year. New Connections, like Rebuilding Together South Sound, works to prevent homelessness among a vulnerable population. Together with Salal Credit Union, we are honored to help improve the security and functionality of New Connections to ensure the women-focused community space continues to provide shelter and support for the community.

To learn more about Rebuilding Together programs, including She Builds, click here.