City of Lakewood

Caring for their own by funding BASIC NEEDS

In 2011, the City of Lakewood invested $126,900.00 in ensuring Lakewood’s most vulnerable citizens would have access to the most basic of items; food, housing, clothes. In an effort to ensure those needs are met, the City partnered with the following programs:

Provides children who receive free or reduced-cost lunches attending Clover Park, Steilacoom, and University Schools with new basic school supplies, backpacks, hygiene and dental products, used books, sports physicals, new underwear and socks, good gently used clothes and shoes, immunizations, dental, hearing and vision screening, haircuts and a free lunch. Caring for Kids

Catholic Community Services – Phoenix Housing Network

Phoenix Housing Network serves low-income families with children in Pierce County. They provide a place to live for families experiencing or at risk of homelessness, while helping to build skills that maximize family stability and self-sufficiency, in order to prevent future homelessness. Most of the homeless population in Pierce County consists of families with children. Homelessness may be caused by domestic violence, loss of a wage earner, catastrophic loss, substance abuse, unemployment, disability, limited English language skills, or poor resource management. Phoenix Housing Network

The Emergency Food Network has been working since 1982 "to provide a reliable food supply so that no person in Pierce County goes hungry." Each month in Pierce County, more than 140,000 people seek emergency food assistance. We provide food and other essentials at no cost to over 65 food banks, hot meal sites and shelters for distribution to low-income families and individuals. Emergency Food Network .

Located at United Methodist Church at Lakewood, 6900 Steilacoom Blvd. SW., Lakewood, WA 98499. Walk-in hours: Mon: 2:00 - 6:00 pm; Wed & Fri: 1:00 - 5:00 pm. Clothing Bank: During food bank hours. FISH Food Bank

LASA is committed to helping prevent homelessness. Since opening in 1989, they have emphasized “reaching out” with the theory that it is easier to prevent homelessness than to cure it. Living Access Support Alliance

Rebuilding Together South Sound

Rebuilding Together South Sound was established in 2001 and is part of the national Rebuilding Together organization. RTSS is a volunteer, charitable group that repairs or rebuilds homes at no cost to low-income homeowners, particularly those who are elderly, disabled or families with children. RTSS

The Food Connection hosted its first Summer Meals site in 2007. We provided a lunch and a snack each weekday at the St. Leo Food Connection for 20 – 25 children of our clients, as well as children from our local neighborhood. Since many of the children we serve receive free or reduced meals during the school year, this helped them continue to receive adequate nutrition during the summer months. St. Leo's Food Connection

Providing mobile food resources to Lakewood families.

• 10:00 a.m.: San Francisco Ave. SW / Lincoln Ave. SW;
• 11:00 a.m.: Boston Ave. SW / Lincoln Ave. SW;
• 12:00 p.m.: Addison Ave. SW / 147th Ave. SW (Springbrook Park)

Volunteers are needed to process food during the week, and to help distribute on Saturdays. Call the St. Leo Food Connection at (253) 383-5048 for more information. The Springbrook neighborhood was selected by the Lakewood Hunger Task Force because of its high percentage of low-income residents and their difficulty in accessing area food banks. The median household income for the neighborhood’s nearly 4,300 residents is $21,688. Of these families, 32 percent have incomes below the federal poverty level, with 26 percent earning less than $10,000 per year. Barriers to food access for residents include a lack of affordable transportation, limited food resources and social services, and the lack of a neighborhood grocery store. From its humble beginnings in a garage in 1982, the St. Leo Food Bank has grown into the largest food bank in Pierce County. We are one of the few food banks in the county that is open on Saturdays, and we also have a food line on Tuesday and Thursday evenings. St. Leo's Food Connection

14916 Washington Ave SW, Lakewood, WA 98498 | (253) 584-1280

For additional information on human services in Lakewood, please contact humanservices@cityoflakewood.us