Move to Tacoma Podcast

Depression and anxiety were already high among senior citizens in our community before the Covid-19 Pandemic reached Tacoma. Today we spoke with Elliot Stockstad and David Duea from Lutheran Community Services Northwest- an organization that has been serving seniors for years- about how we can support seniors in our community.

David recommends reaching out to seniors in your life. His mother is in another state and he has been sending her needed items via Amazon and coordinating with her neighborhoods.

David and his wife also sent out an email to his neighbors and offered to pick up items at the grocery store. Take care of your own needs and then look around and help folks around you.

“There’s the go-go seniors, the slow-go seniors, and the no-go seniors,” says David. These seniors had been organized helping each other before the pandemic. “Now we’re all slow gos!”

Elliot says there was already a tremendous amount of need, and now it’s an even greater challenge. In addition to meals on wheels and transportation, seniors need help with tech ordering their medicine, groceries, and other supplies. LCSNW is collaborating with other nonprofit partners and organizations to get emergency care to seniors. “We’re seeing a lot of generosity and forward thinking,” says Elliot. “What are the dependable strengths of different organizations?” LCSNW is focussed on being a bridge between organizations to deliver care.

So many folks in nonprofits are concerned right now because their events are being cancelled, some organizations are having to lay off staff. For this reason it is important for those who can to continue to give to the organizations that they support- because the need is increasing even as funding is harder to obtain. If you can give, give.

If you don’t have money but you have skills, local nonprofits need that support as well. If you are home and have time your local nonprofits that support seniors can probably use your support. All of us can like and share their posts online and get the message out about their clients needs.

The post How Can We Help Tacoma Seniors During Covid-19? appeared first on Move to Tacoma.

MovetoTacoma.com creator Marguerite asked her financial coach, Chris to convert their monthly call to a podcast to get his advice. Chris has been helping Marguerite track her spending and get out of debt for over five years. Marguerite is worried since she is self employed, but ready to face the uncertainty and create an emergency budget in the face of Covid-19. But how do we do it?

It is impossible to predict the full economic fallout as we face the Covid-19 pandemic. For those of us who own small businesses or who have just had our places of employment closed- there are VERY BIG CONCERNS about loss of income. How do you create an emergency budget in the face of so much uncertainty?

1. Get clear – You need to know what’s coming in and what’s going out. If you have lost your job but your spouse still has some income figure out how much you still have coming in. Next, you need to make a list of all of the current spending you are doing. Chris recommends looking up your previous months bank statements and listing out all of your spending and categorizing it to see what your spending is NOW.

2. Create a Spending Plan for your new income reality – What are the fixed bills in your life? What are the things you absolutely need. Fixed bills are things like mortgage/rent, utilities, and phone bill. Next might be car payment, car insurance, your life insurance, and student loans. A list of necessities usually begins with food and groceries. Chris says to ask yourself, “What do I need in order to survive?” Chris says not to forget about prescriptions, and mental health and well being. We discussed the need to prioritize spending our money in our own communities over spending money at corporations and out of our communities. If you have the option to spend money with your neighbors, do it!

3. Stigma and Shame – Chris suggested that we re-evaluate our way of life and our spending and get creative. Marguerite said that during the 2008 Financial Crisis she experienced a lot of shame when the market fell very quickly, because it only seemed to impact a few people at first. With Covid-19, everyone seems to be struggling. Chris says, “If somebody is going to judge me, that’s on them.” We must be honest with each other and ask for help if we need it. We are all in this together.

4. Daily practice/choose clarity – Each day we should go through practices that make you YOU so that you can take on your day. For Chris his daily coffee is an essential ritual. At the beginning of each day figure out for yourself, “This is the thing I need to do to have financial clarity.” And then do it.Chris said that maintaining focus and clarity and facing our finances is key to navigating this uncertainty. “You have to ask yourself, is there anything I can do?” he says. “If not, set it aside.”

The post How to Triage Your Finances and Create an Emergency Budget During Covid-19 appeared first on Move to Tacoma.

Small nonprofits in Tacoma are facing huge challenges in the coming weeks as Tacomans grapple with the Covid-19 pandemic. What can each of us as individuals do to support our local nonprofits and the important work they do in our community?

David Strong from AHAT Home Care and Melissa Mallott from Citizens for a Healthy Bay joined us for this conversation on March 13th 2020 to talk about the challenges their organizations and others are facing and how Tacomans can help.

Melissa Mallott urged everyone to practice social distancing and be mindful of how we are impacting others.

David Strong urged everyone to consider the impact that hoarding resources can have on small nonprofits. His organization provides healthcare and housing to folks with compromised immune systems and they are in danger of running out of cleaning supplies. Hoarding can have unintended consequences for our neighbors. If you would like to help AHAT Homecare protect their clients in this time you can drop **Hand Sanitizer** and **Bleach Wipes** only. They are located at Three Cedars facility at 301 North L. Street. Ring the door and staff will come to the front door.   Again they are seeking hand santizers and bleach wipes only.

Be mindful that many local nonprofits will be forced to cancel essential fundraising events. If you are able, consider donating even if the event does not go forward. Reach out to small nonprofits you support in Tacoma and find out what their needs are. Be patient with any requests you might have as staff resources are very strained right now.

If you are a business SPONSORING a fundraiser that has been cancelled PLEASE do not retract your sponsorship. Work with the nonprofit to find other ways to thank you for your support and remember the big picture.

The post How to Support Small Nonprofits in Tacoma During Covid-19 with David Strong & Melissa Mallott appeared first on Move to Tacoma.

What can Tacomans do to support small businesses, artists, and very small businesses in Tacoma during the Covid-19 pandemic? Spaceworks Director Michael Liang joins us to talk about the specific challenges facing small business owners right now and how everyday Tacomans can support their business owning neighbors.

Michael moved to Tacoma in 2018 to take the job with Spaceworks. Spaceworks is a business incubator that provides space, training, and resources to creative entrepreneurs and artists in Tacoma. Through their training programs, coworking spaces, and more- they’re empowering the Tacoma community and creating lasting impact for a bright new future.

If you’re interested in learning more about resources available to small business owners and artists through Spaceworks check out their resource list here.

The post Supporting Small Businesses and Artists During Covid-19 with Michael Liang from Spaceworks appeared first on Move to Tacoma.

The MoveToTacoma.com podcast has been on hiatus while MoveToTacoma.com founder Marguerite takes a sabbatical out of state. Channel253 Founder Erik Hanberg hops on the podcast to interview Marguerite and catch up on what’s new with MoveToTacoma, what’s new in the City of Tacoma, and what the future holds for both.

We talk about the future of the MoveToTacoma.com podcast, what’s going on in Tacoma this year, homelessness, rising home prices, and more.

If you’re a listener with thoughts about whether the podcast should continue, (or you have an idea for future guests/hosts) click the contact form on the MovetoTacoma.com website or in the show notes below.

The post The Future of the Move To Tacoma Podcast with Marguerite Martin and Erik Hanberg appeared first on Move to Tacoma.

Dune Peninsula opens today at Point Defiance, a new 12-acre park right on the water. Today Metro Parks also opened Wilson Way, a new pedestrian and bike promenade that finally connects Ruston Way with Point Defiance. Guest host Jasmyn Jefferson is joined by Metro Parks Commissioner, and regular here on MovetoTacoma, to talk about what you can expect when you visit the park and what’s in store in the future. Enjoy!

The post A new park! Dune Peninsula at Point Defiance appeared first on Move to Tacoma.

Tacoma Against Nazis is a group for people in Tacoma who are against nazis. “We tried to give it a straightforward title,” says Halley. “No bones about it. You’re either for or against Nazis. And we’re against.”

This came about in June 2018 after a handful of Tacoma residents became fed up with how nationally and locally white supremacist groups are feeling emboldened. The group became aware of a group of neo-nazis operating a tattoo parlor and decided to do something about it.

Halley says the question that drove the creation of the group was, “What are the white progressives of Tacoma going to actually do to show up against white supremacy?” Halley says, “You can talk about it or you can acknowledge that you don’t know exactly what to do but you know you have to do something.” What started as a small gathering of concerned Tacomans on Father’s Day turned into a Facebook group of over 1000 Tacomans, multiple protests at the tattoo shop, the website DisconnectWhitePower.com, and a series of outreach events at local organizations such as Tacoma Sunrise Rotary. In addition to protests and outreach in the community, the group has organized letter writing campaigns to the landlords of the tattoo shop and others to raise awareness of the existence of their activities.

Their efforts have received national press coverage and generated considerable conversation here in Tacoma.

“There is a sense of there being a normalizing of activity around white supremacy, around this sense of ‘we won’t back down’ ‘you won’t quiet us’ ‘we were censored previously in the previous political climate and we are going to be out and about and proud with our ideologies’,” says Cheryl. “And thus you have groups like the Proud Boys and Patriot Front who are gaining more recognition nationally and these ideas are becoming more a part of the mainstream. There has been a significant normalizing of these activities.”

They talk about how this normalization has impacted white progressives who may have ignored some of these activities in the past to educate themselves and be more active in countering these groups. “Previously we might have seen someone flying some kind of nazi flag and thought ‘well that’s embarrassing’- it’s very easy to dismiss that as a white woman because I can walk past that nazi flag and nothing is going to happen to me. But we need to recognize that our neighbors of color are living a very different reality where that poses a very real threat to their physical safety.”

“To be totally frank we’re late,” says Halley. “We’re way late to this party. But we’re here now and we’re awake to it and we’re trying to do everything that we can to make up for lost time and especially show the rest of our community that there are people here who are willing to stand up to it.”

Five months in, the organizers and members of Tacoma Against Nazis have put a lot of time and energy into their efforts to show up responsibly against white supremacy in Tacoma. They’ve kept their focus on the tattoo shop and on other displays of white supremacy (such as some anti immigrant posters put up all over town). The group has learned you can’t please everyone, and they’ve received criticism from people who think they’ve gone too far as well as people who think they haven’t been radical enough. “We’re a bunch of mom’s and teachers,” says Halley.

Cheryl and Halley share advice they have for other people wanting to organize in their community. Mainly, have very clear goals, be ready for pushback from local leaders, and learn to channel peoples passion into workgroups set to achieve specific goals (security, organizing, social media, etc).

For those who are concerned with Tacoma getting negative reputation because of people openly talking about nazis and white supremacists, know that this activity is a problem everywhere. “This is a problem in the United States,” says Halley. “This is a problem everywhere. So I would actually venture to say that based on the immersion into the white supremacist problem that we’ve had over the past months- I actually think Tacoma has a pretty small problem compared to much of the rest of the country… we can stamp this out if we get on it right now.”

Want to fight Nazis in Tacoma? Here are some things you can do:

1. Educate yourself about White Supremacist and Nazi symbols. Watch the Frontline documentary about the rise of White Supremacists across the country.

2. Speak up and make life uncomfortable for people who espouse hateful ideologies. According to Tacoma Against Nazi member Hope just speaking up and saying ‘I’m not OK with this,’ or ‘I’m not comfortable with this ideology and this is not what America means to me,’ can make a huge difference.

3. Join the Tacoma Against Nazis Facebook Group and find a way to use your talents to help.

4. Follow Disconnect White Power on Twitter and read their blog posts.

Top Tips for doing the work:

“If there’s anything that I personally have learned from everything that we’ve gone through as a group- it’s that you just have to stick to what you know with a sense of conviction. And that may be different than even your fellow group members. You are what you practice. If you show up that’s what and who you are. If you don’t show up that’s what and who you are. So there’s a lot of noise, there’s a lot of invisible connections, at the end of the day do what you know is right. Do what you feel with conviction.” – Cheryl

“My top tip for people trying to wade through the noise is have a baby at the same time. Because I’m so tired and over all of it that I just have no time or patience to dig into any of the ego or the permission. I’m just gonna do that work and not play around, because come on I got a baby to put to bed.” – Halley

The post Tacoma Against Nazis appeared first on Move to Tacoma.

On the podcast Melannie shares about her life in Tacoma, her work promoting racial reconciliation, her daily encounters with racism, and her ideas about how white people in Tacoma can do to educate themselves about racism and work to dismantle white supremacy. Melannie will be heading to Norway for the Nobel Peace Prize with her Peace Queen Talks Television Documentary and it will be aired by KBTC. You can support this trip and her work here.

Marguerite and Melannie talk about a wide range of topics, but in particular what white women can do to show up for marginalized people in their daily lives. “Start educating yourself about what’s going on. Do some history,” says Melannie. She encourages white Tacomans to step out into spaces where they are not part of the dominant racial group.

Melannie is the founder of The People’s Gathering, a community conference held yearly on the PLU Campus. This years conference will be held April 2nd, 2019. In 2015 she led the effort to bring the “Hate Won’t Win” challenge to the City of Tacoma, the first city in the United States to do so.

Melannie is proudly from Lakewood.  She moved to Lakewood from Hawaii in 1973 and went to Lakes High School, “I’ll tell you what I love about Lakewood. It is so diverse. There are people from everywhere. The roots run deep.” For those who don’t get to Lakewood often she recommends checking out her favorite restaurant, The Bleu Note Restaurant and Lounge. “The owners are so visionary because they have community in mind.”

In her professional life Melannie is the Director of Multicultural Outreach and Engagement at Pacific Lutheran University, she serves as a mentor to students of color at PLU.

The post Melannie Denise Cunningham: Tacoma Peace Queen appeared first on Move to Tacoma.

Saul Farber is one of the founders of PeopleGIS, a local tech company. He is also a lifelong member of Tacoma’s Jewish Community. When Marguerite asked how Tacomans of different faiths could show support for our Jewish neighbors, Saul shared these ideas:

The post Supporting Tacoma’s Jewish Community with Saul Farber appeared first on Move to Tacoma.