At South Sound Together, we like to put our money where our collective mouth is. A big part of our mission is to tell one and all about South Sound’s triumphs — and another is to work toward new successes, making our region an even better place to live and work. One of the ways we do that is to fund small grant programs.
In 2017, we funded grants through:
• Spaceworks Tacoma, which gives the creative economy a boost by supporting entrepreneurs and finding new uses for vacant buildings. Our dollars went to the Incubator program, expanding the program’s coaching staff and making it more diverse as well as supporting the growth of 11 small businesses — from Brown Betty, which makes face and body products by hand, to Dybevik Pianos, which does maintenance and repair. Spaceworks will be highlighting these success stories on its updated website.
• Children’s Museum of Tacoma, which aims to improve life for our region’s children and get people of all ages playing. With our help, the museum is supporting such projects as Books to Barbershops, a program of Graduate Tacoma that gives culturally sensitive kids’ books to black- and Latino-owned shops. You can read more about the support the grant offered Tacoma Rescue Mission’s Adams Street Women and Family Shelter’s preschool in an article by News Tribune reporter Matt Driscoll.
• Greater Tacoma Community Foundation, which awards Spark Grants to projects that spark connection and community. Last year, those grants supported brightening bike racks with handmade yarn covers, painting a mural for the Children’s Room at Kobetich Library and supporting a multicultural community choir.
Know of any small grant programs that could use a boost? Email us at SouthSoundProud@gmail.com
