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Fife jobs program reports housing 15 families and serving about 96 people, council hears quarterly update
Summary
A city jobs-program manager told the Fife City Council that the program has housed 15 families with Port of Tacoma funding, has five additional families in the pipeline and has provided services to roughly 96 individuals or families since the last report; the program emphasized a small-team, relationship-based approach and cited outcome rates in the 60% range for housing graduations.
The City of Fife’s jobs program reported measurable housing and employment outcomes at the council’s Feb. 24 meeting.
The program’s Community Navigator/Program Manager (presented in the meeting as Berghaus) said staff has “housed 15 families” with help from Port of Tacoma funding and has “5 additional families in our pipeline,” and that the program has provided resources to “over 96 individuals or families.” He also described results from a January point-in-time count, saying staff “counted approximately 65 people.”
The presenter framed the program as deliberately small and relationship-driven, arguing that frequent contact with participants builds trust: “it’s that small approach that allows our case managers to have a touch almost every single day,” the presenter said. He added internal outcome figures: “as far as housed or graduate, we’re like 66 percent. As far as employed, we’re below 60.”
Council members asked whether the program’s definition of “families” included parents and children; the presenter confirmed it does. Councilmember Gathers and others praised the program’s work and asked about scalability and partnerships with county resources such as food lockers. The presenter said the model can be scaled but cautioned that breaking the work into smaller, peer-supported segments preserves effectiveness.
The update noted partnerships with Tacoma Pierce County Health Department, Pierce County Human Services and the McKinney-Vento liaison to support unhoused families and transport needs for schoolchildren. The presenter also described recent outreach and supply drives, saying staff handed out coats, hygiene kits and food during the outreach effort.
The council did not take formal action on the update. Deputy Mayor Joey Murphy thanked staff for the report; council members signaled interest in receiving further updates and exploring interagency coordination for food and services.
