TACOMA- Serve Washington has selected the Pierce County Community Engagement Task Force as recipients of the 2024 Washington State Volunteer Service Awards for the South Puget Sound Region of Washington.
Volunteers with the Pierce County Community Engagement Task Force received the group volunteer award.
The Pierce County Community Engagement Task Force is powered by WorkForce Central and is made up of more than 150 organizations and more than 300 volunteers. They all share a commitment to addressing disparities in services among people living in Pierce County.
"The impact they have is everything," said Kelly Brickhouse, community engagement coordinator for WorkForce Central and task force co-founder. "It's only possible when we have the community coming together for these events to help stabilize and lift up the power of voice."
In 2023, Pierce County Community Engagement Task Force volunteers helped coordinate "Collaboration for a Cause," one of the largest job and resource fairs in Pierce County. The event had representatives from more than 100 employers. More than 1,200 people attended the event, held at the Tacoma Dome. It had on-site résumé prep, on-the-spot-job interviews and resources for basic needs, health, education and training, and specialized resources for LGBTQ+ community members, youths, veterans and people with disabilities.
The Pierce County Community Engagement Task Force also co-presented its first ever "Lens of Equity Summit" in Lakewood filled with tools and information on how to a build healthy framework for diversity, equity, accountability and inclusion for organizations, individuals, workplaces and members of the community.
Task force Co-founder and Senior Director of Community Engagement at WorkForce Central Tamar Jackson added communities become more resilient when people of different backgrounds and experiences come together.
"It really shows impact when we all have a common goal and we have different organizations to reach the goal of impact in communities," Jackson said.
Pierce County Community Engagement Task Force: https://pccetf.org/
