A Tacoma community center for adults with disabilities is looking for a new home.
The Tacoma Area Coalition of Individuals with Disabilities, or TACID, announced in early September that its longtime lease with Tacoma Community College and the City of Tacoma will not be renewed past 2029. The decision to end the partnership spurred the nonprofit to launch a multi-million dollar fundraising effort to secure a new building and sustain its services well into the future.
"We don't have any location identified yet, and at the same time, we know that we need to raise quite a bit of money to be able to sustain what's going to be coming," said Nalani Linder, TACID's executive director.
For more than four decades, the nonprofit has operated rent-free on the community college’s campus, allowing it to offer services for free as well. The city owns the facility TACID uses and covers maintenance costs. But recent increases in enrollment have prompted college officials to look for more space and plan to use TACID’s facility after its lease ends.
TACID offers nonclinical services to adults who have cognitive, developmental, physical, and sensory disabilities or behavioral health issues. Its resources span art classes, chair yoga and a variety of support groups. It also provides a dayroom for people to spend time on activities like puzzles.
“This is a place where people can feel like they belong,” Linder said. “They connect with each other, they support each other, and they work on their own wellness and recovery journeys.”
On a recent morning, the community center was filled with excited shouts as dozens of people played bingo. Charles McDonald, who has used the facility for years, described TACID as a “safe environment for people like me, and the rest, to have fun and also be loved and supported.”
TACID has seen the number of people using its facility quadruple since 2021, according to a news release, and it served more than 1,300 patrons in 2024. According to Linder, the impending relocation is an opportunity for the center to find a bigger space to support its growing needs.
Tacoma Community College’s vice president for college relations, Tamyra Howser, said the school gave TACID until 2029 to find a new building.
“We wanted to give TACID plenty of time, and some sustainability, to find a new home,” she said. “We will support them through this time as much as we can.”
As it relocates, the nonprofit will have to figure out how to cover expenses such as rent. Its board of directors is discussing how it can “maintain a no- or low-cost set of services when you add rent into the equation,” Linder said.
The nonprofit is launching a capital campaign to raise funds for a new building. The group is also surveying those who use the facility to learn about the amenities they’d like to have access to at a future location.
“The reality is we’re going to need a lot more support than we’ve had in the past in order to maintain our services — and definitely to grow them,” Linder said.
