PIERCE COUNTY LABOR COMMUNITY SERVICES AGENCY

The purchase of the Willard School marks a major milestone for this project—and getting the keys is only the beginning. Northwest Public Broadcasting reporter Lauren Gallup recently spoke with Pierce County labor leaders about what comes next for Willard and, more importantly, why working families need this project in the first place. We’re grateful to Northwest Public Broadcasting for continuing to follow this project from an idea into its next chapter and helping tell the s

Pierce Labor has purchased Tacoma’s former Willard School to create a Childcare and Workforce Education Center with affordable care during nontraditional hours, career pathways for childcare workers, and workforce and apprenticeship education for Pierce County families.

This work doesn’t happen without people showing up, and you did! To everyone who scrubbed walls, hauled furniture, picked up trash, swept floors, and put in the kind of effort that doesn’t always get seen but makes all the difference: thank you. What might have looked like a work day was something much bigger. Every hour you gave helped move Willard one step closer to becoming the future home of Pierce Labor—a space where in opportunity, dignity, and community come together.