New Connections - Tacoma
Who We Are
New Connections aims to interrupt the poverty-to-prison pipeline and promote community reintegration after incarceration.
We are a small, 501c3 agency based in Tacoma and serving Pierce County.
What We Do
To promote successful reintegration, we provide:
Women’s Shelters
Irma’s House: supportive shelter for women experiencing homelessness who have recently been released from correctional facilities in Washington State. The program includes housing, intensive case management, advocacy, and reentry support.
Annie’s Cottage: a family shelter adjacent to Irma Gary House, the cottage provides the services described above for women experiencing homelessness and their children. The cottage is reserved for justice-involved women with custody of minor children.
Reentry Resource Navigation
- Reentry and resource mentoring (pre & post release)
- Peer navigator assistance
- Warm-line
- Service learning opportunities for guests and our community
Reentry 101
Pre-release program to identify needs and offer community resources for those currently incarcerated
Advocacy, community outreach, and policy initiatives
Partnering with others to increase community safety, reduce recidivism, and eliminate barriers to success for formerly incarcerated individuals and their families.
Community Partner: Emergency Temporary Aid & Sheltering Initiative
This is an initiative in response to state of public health emergency declared by the city council on May 9, 2017. New Connections contributes to this effort through:
- Outreach to justice involved people who are experiencing homelessness
- Member of the Safe Parking Network Team
- Expanding tools and capacity for continued advocacy and resource coaching
- Participating in weekly planning/collaboration/problem solving meetings with multiple other agencies and individuals providing services and resources to reduce homelessness and its effects.
