Elevate Health

04/27/2026

Just four days left to participate in the WAFOOD survey! Your responses will help state and community organizations better understand needs and connect people with resources where they’re needed most.

https://redcap.link/WAFOOD6

04/23/2026

Our staff spent the day building teamwork skills with facilitator Beroz Ferrell. Activities included problem-solving exercises, discussions on cross-team collaboration, reflection on our strengths and areas for growth, and role-playing challenging internal communication scenarios. We’re leaving with new tools we’re ready to put into practice right away.

04/22/2026

Last Earth Day, our community resilience team brought neighbors together on Tacoma’s Eastside for an environmental roundtable. The conversation was powerful, and the insights shared helped shape the Washington State Department of Health’s new Environmental Health Disparities Map.

This map reflects lived experiences from communities across Washington. In honor of
, we invite you to spend a few minutes exploring it and seeing how local voices are driving statewide impact.

An interactive mapping tool showing environmental and health risks by census tract to identify disparities and improve equity. Measures include ozone, PM2.5, hazardous waste, poverty, and unemployment.

04/16/2026

The sixth wave of the WAFOOD survey is officially live. Led by researchers at the University of Washington and Washington State University, this survey explores food access and economic wellbeing across Washington State. If you’re a Washington resident age 18 or older, your voice matters—please take a few minutes to participate. Your responses will help state and community organizations better understand needs and connect people with resources where they’re needed most.

https://redcap.link/WAFOOD6

04/14/2026

For more than 100 years, Tacoma Community House has helped local immigrants, refugees, and long-time South Sound residents gain the skills they need to transition out of poverty, navigate a new culture, and find personal and professional success.

In our latest article, we highlight how community-based workers at Tacoma Community House are partnering with Elevate Health’s community care hub to meet people where they are, build trust, and help connect them to the health and social care services they need to thrive.

Article Link —> https://elevatehealth.org/community-engagement/tacoma-community-house-care-coordination-partner

Picture Order:

1. Marcia Montenegro is a community-based worker at Tacoma Community House. She serves many Spanish-speaking clients, including folks navigating complex immigration systems.

2. Community-based worker Kassandra Soto Alcasar helps victims of crime navigate the legal system and connect with vital resources.

3. Marianela Jintiach-Arcos is a community-based worker and a member of Tacoma Community House’s care coordination team.

4. Program Manager Lisa Hamlin guides Tacoma Community House’s team of community-based-workers.

04/08/2026

Last week, our team met with Communities for a Healthy Bay, an organization dedicated to protecting and restoring the Puget Sound ecosystem. With funding from One Pierce, Elevate Health’s social impact fund, and in collaboration with Silverback Marine, they are building the first electric work boat of its size and the infrastructure to support more electric vessels in the future.

This electric work boat project is one of the many ways Communities for a Healthy Bay is combatting environmental pollution in Pierce County. Learn more about their work by visiting healthybay.org.

04/06/2026

Gabe Moaalii, Elevate Health’s senior director of community resilience, reflects on why community-based workers are vital to community health and wellbeing in Pierce County.

Our community care hub is powered by 85+ community-based workers who provide free, one-on-one support to help local individuals and families access available health and social care services.

Learn more at ConnectPierce.org

03/31/2026

For people experiencing homelessness, recovering from an injury or illness can be nearly impossible without a safe place to heal. Medical Respite care fills that gap. Medical respite programs provide a stable environment for recovery and connect individuals with essential health and supportive services. Unfortunately, we don’t have nearly enough medical respite beds in Pierce County.

Our latest article explains what medical respite is, what is currently available in Pierce County, how a new Washington State Health Care Authority policy has made medical respite services more accessible, and how organizations like Catholic Community Services of Western Washington, Low Income Housing Institute, and Elevate Health are working together to grow this essential resource in our community.

For people experiencing homelessness, recovering from an injury or illness can be nearly impossible without a safe place to heal. Medical respite care…

03/23/2026

We believe that community-based workers are essential to building a healthier, more connected . These trusted individuals serve as guides, helping people navigate a wide range of social and health services with empathy and understanding. Their work is not only impactful—it’s transformative.

, our community care hub, is powered by a coalition of 85+ community-based workers serving across our county. If you or someone in your community needs help accessing things like housing, nutritious food, legal services, transportation, or help enrolling in and/or navigating their health insurance coverage please visit to ConnectPierce.org.

03/19/2026

Many thanks to everyone who attended yesterday’s community-based worker forum at our Elevate Health office. We reviewed survey results, discussed areas of improvement for the community care hub, and worked on co-designing new community feedback mechanisms.

Special thanks to Apoorva Somayazulu from Providence CORE for facilitating!

03/17/2026

At Elevate Health, we believe data is more than numbers in a spreadsheet. Data is a tool for understanding what our communities need and how we can serve them better.

In this new Q&A interview, our colleague Rueben Hernandez shares how data can shape decision‑making, support frontline community‑based workers, and help our social and health care systems stay flexible in a rapidly changing environment.

Rueben Hernandez has been drawn to data for as long as he can remember. “I was that kid who grabbed the paper in the morning to check the baseball scores,…

03/16/2026

We need your feedback on housing in Washington.

Commerce opened a survey to gather input to help shape recommendations for a potential state Department of Housing. The new department will serve as the state’s coordinating and problem-solving hub to ensure adequate housing supply and stability.

The anonymous survey will take approximately 15 minutes to complete and is open to anyone who is interested.

Take the survey by April 26: https://www.surveymonkey.com/r/2026StateDeptHousingTaskForce

Learn more about the Department of Housing Task Force on our website at https://www.commerce.wa.gov/housing-policy/housing-task-force/.