About Us
Our Mission
Peace Community Center, a faith-rooted, community-led organization, works alongside Hilltop youth and families to build pathways to stability, opportunity and housing security.
Our Vision
We envision a thriving Hilltop where youth and families belong, experience stability, and use their diverse gifts to shape a just and loving community.
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.
Our Values
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Faith-Rooted Justice
We are guided by a faith that calls us to love our neighbors, pursue justice, cultivate hope and joy, and honor the dignity of every person. Our faith shapes why and how we work—creating a place of inclusion and belonging for all people, not exclusion or division.
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Community Led Listening & Learning
We listen first, learn continuously, and adapt in accountability to the Hilltop community. Listening is an ongoing practice, not a phase.
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Belonging & Place
We are rooted in the Hilltop and committed to cultivating spaces of belonging and joy across generations. We move at the speed of trust and build with relationships, not programs alone.
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Collective Action & Partnership
We believe lasting change requires collaboration, mutuality, and shared leadership. We work alongside others, not above or apart.
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.
