About Us

Our Mission

Peace Community Center creates transformational educational experiences for Hilltop youth and families of promise, empowering future success in college, career, and community leadership.

Our Vision

We envision a vibrant community where youth and families are life-long learners who use their diverse gifts to cultivate love, justice, and peace for generations to come.

 

Our Community

Peace Community Center is located in the Hilltop, a racially-diverse neighborhood in the heart of Tacoma. The Hilltop’s rich history goes all the way back to when Tacoma (or Commencement City, as it was first called) was founded in the early 1870s in conjunction with the Northern Pacific Railroad making its northwest terminus in the city. As Tacoma’s population grew over the coming decades, residents settled in newly-formed neighborhoods, including one on the hill next to Commencement Bay that became known as the Hilltop neighborhood. Many Hilltop residents were immigrants who had moved to Tacoma to start new lives. To this day, diversity continues to be a defining characteristic of the Hilltop community.

Sadly, the history of Hilltop includes injustice and other challenges over the years. In the 1940s, redlining in the city of Tacoma forced black families into the Hilltop. The racial injustice continued, which caused the Hilltop community to be especially vulnerable to economic hardship and crime, such as the surge of gang violence the community experienced in the late ‘80s. The Hilltop has seen healing and reconciliation since that time. But there is still work to be done. Gentrification has been a recent struggle in the community, forcing many long-term residents out of their homes and businesses due to rising costs. 

In the words of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr., “Darkness can not drive out darkness, only light can do that. Hate cannot drive out hate, only love can do that.” In the Hilltop’s darkest moments, members of the community have consistently stepped into action to spread love and build a better future. It was out of this desire that Peace Lutheran Church founded Peace Community Center in 2001 to ensure the students in the Hilltop finished school and had access to quality academic support. What started as just a high school program has grown to include elementary school, middle school, and community programs. 

Peace Community Center plans to eventually spread beyond the Hilltop, but we will always call this community our home and remember its history.

Our Values

  • Community

    All people are a vital part of building a community grounded in enduring relationships and promotion of the common good.

  • Justice

    Equitable access to opportunities and a commitment to diversity help people flourish as capable learners and as engaged, compassionate citizens.

  • Joy

    Celebration, a positive outlook, humor and grace nurture hope and sustain hearts joined in common purpose.

  • Learning

    On-going creativity, ingenuity, and acquisition of knowledge throughout a person’s life enriches individual lives, generates energy and vitality in the community, and enhances resourcefulness in embracing our ever changing world.

  • Wholeness

    We care about the emotional, physical and spiritual well being of all people, we encourage the development of integrity, compassion, and the habits that lead to healthy and productive lives

Anti-Racism Statement

Peace Community Center is committed to confronting systemic racism and all forms of oppression to promote personal growth, social justice, and reconciliation.

Faith Rootedness Statement

Peace Lutheran Church birthed Peace Community Center out of faith and a deep commitment of love for the Hilltop neighborhood, gifted Peace Community Center to Tacoma, and continues to closely partner with Peace Community Center to serve Hilltop youth and families today.

Program Evaluation Reports

 

From Reserved and Uncertain to Confident and Creative

Strategic Focus Areas

 

    • Increase Scholars’ Academic Rigor

    • Improve Scholars’ Community Leadership Footprint

    • Identify a Robust Internship and Apprentice Program

    • Become an Anti-Racist Organization

    • Produce Mentally and Physically Thriving Employees & Volunteers

    • Improve Internal Systems, Policies and Procedures

    • Increase the Center’s Financial Resources

    • Establish Partnerships to Address Employment, Housing, Mental Health and Adult Education Needs within the Hilltop Community

    • Achieve Collaborative Relationship & Partnership with Tacoma Public Schools

    • Improve Internal Data Collection Process

    • Increase Data-Driven Decision Making

    • Increase Access to State of the Art Technology