While Tacoma’s urban core is experiencing a period of significant growth, communities throughout unincorporated Pierce County continue to experience high rates of poverty, above average unemployment, and barriers to success.
Addressing these trends is more urgent for us than ever, because as we work to find efficient, effective solutions, words like “poverty,” “unemployment,” and “disconnection” can easily become measurements we track rather than experiences we strive to understand - and these are experiences real people face every day.
We know that for too many, issues of inequality aren’t just problems to solve or barriers to overcome. They are circumstances that shape expectations, realities that put limits on life’s possibilities and shut down dreams - everyday experiences that can feel hopeless and inescapable.
We see high school students who aren’t sure formal education can make a difference for them after graduating, young adults without mentors to help identify and hone their strengths, and hard-working community-members who can’t afford to acquire the skills they need to fill some of our county’s most in-demand jobs.
At Arivva, we see people as assets, not problems, and we know that the systemic solutions to our most complex social challenges will always start with personal connections, understanding, and access.
That’s why we’re putting individual experiences at the heart of our mission, determined not just to attempt to solve a problem or fill a systemic need in our community, but to challenge the expectations we have for ourselves and the differences we can make—building a place of hope, beauty, and belonging that inspires all who enter it to reach for something beyond what they’ve imagined.
Our Goal
Arivva will be a hub at the heart of Pierce County, a place where high school students, young adults, and adults-in-transition can find:
Pathways to meaningful, living-wage careers and community engagement
Uplifting, welcoming spaces that support a high-quality learning experience
Personalized support through mentorship and connection
Activities and relationships that encourage creativity and inspire ambition
And a community that respects and values every person who walks through its doors
Knowing that success is defined as much by a person’s circumstances as it is by ability, we will transform Parkland and surrounding areas of Pierce County and all who call it home. We will connect those who have come to expect less than they deserve to something unexpected—the opportunities they need to build a better future for themselves, their families, and our entire community.
Our Programs
Building upon the proven Manchester Bidwell Education Model, championed by Bill Strickland—a MacArthur Genius Award winner who has helped transform lives in cities around the country—our programs will empower people with the skills and confidence they need to take ownership of their futures and defy even their own expectations. We will make creativity and confidence a cornerstone of our high school students’ identities with after school programs in the visual arts. We will prepare unemployed, underemployed, and transitioning workers with the skills they need to obtain living-wage jobs in some of our community’s most in-demand sectors, beginning with HVAC and healthcare training programs.
While the collection of programs included in the Manchester-Bidwell Model may seem disparate at first glance, all of our efforts are focused primarily on three things:
Appealing to target groups of high school students, young adults and adults-in-transition for whom Arivva can make the most impact, creating new ways of thinking and building skills as early as possible so fewer people disengage from our communities in significant ways.
Creating an educational opportunity that goes beyond skill acquisition, taking individual experiences and contexts into account and emphasizing the importance of personal relationships and engagement through respect, mentorship and program accessibility.
Introducing students to amazing teachers who are experts in their fields, in specialized learning spaces that are beautiful, purposeful, and inspiring.
At no cost to participants, these programs will do more than create needed educational opportunities in our community; they’ll show that in Pierce Country it is always possible for a person to learn something new, connect with others in new ways, and forge a new path forward—no matter their background or previous experiences.
The Facility
Our focus is on building a state-of-the-art learning facility for our visual arts and job training programs, ensuring that our spaces are as welcoming and functional as possible, and extending opportunities for community gatherings and partnerships. We hope to share Arivva and its philosophy not only with our students, but with other organizations doing such critical work in Pierce County.
Proven Impact
National data shows that Manchester Bidwell programming can increase high school graduation rates, expand access to postsecondary education and training, improve completion of post-secondary training for in-demand occupations, and elevate job-prospects and employment rates for young adults and adults-in-transition.
Arivva is uniquely positioned to bring these impacts to Parkland, Lakewood, Spanaway and other unincorporated communities of Pierce County, and we’re committed to making these changes a reality.
We are already serving Parkland with pilot programs in the visual arts. In 2019, we welcomed students to programs in ceramics and videography, opportunities for connection, creativity, and growth that many of our participants can’t find anywhere else.
At the same time, we are beginning efforts to roll out the first of our workforce training programs. Supplying full scholarships and wraparound supports to help participants overcome challenges like transportation, food and housing, relationships, and working while going to school. Our HVAC and healthcare training programs will take our efforts to scale.
We’re committed to building a community that sees every person as an asset—one where the problems we face become opportunities to create hope, respect, and belonging, and where every individual has a pathway to success.
With nine centers like Arivva already open and serving students across the country and many others in the planning stages, this is an opportunity for Pierce County to join a proven, national movement that already serves thousands of people every year.
Will you join us?
