Steve Decker began a presentation to a Pierce County Council committee last spring by proclaiming himself a radical, for believing the state’s second-largest county could eventually achieve the lofty goal of functional zero on homelessness.

Pierce County remains miles away from that goal, with the number of individuals experiencing homelessness creeping up to nearly 3,000 this year, according to federal data. That is an 11% annual increase. Yet Decker, CEO of Family Promise of Puget Sound , has found a model he believes could help close the gap.

Family Promise has been around fewer than two years, and carries little name recognition. But in a short span, the agency created by a Spanaway pastor has rapidly ascended to a central player in Pierce County’s efforts to combat homelessness, a

See Full Page