Fife Jobs Program

The City of Fife Jobs Program is about much more than providing job training for committed members of Fife’s unhoused community.

In this yearlong program, housing comes first. Participants are provided with a home in the city’s tiny house village, a group of 10 units sited next to the Fife Criminal Justice Center. This approach provides participants with the security and stability they need to begin job training and to tackle any other barriers—including addictions—that impede their ability to work.

To qualify for the yearlong program, applicants must reside within Pierce County, have been homeless for at least three months and demonstrate a clear desire to work and actively pursue permanent housing options. They’re also subject to the same background checks that City of Fife staff must pass.

Jobs program participants become contracted employees through TruFit Staffing, a City of Fife staffing agency that is committed to serving the residents of Fife. In addition to comprehensive case management, participants receive on-the-job training from city staff to maintain the city’s parks and trails, work toward flagging and forklift operating certificates, perform general office duties or complete other paid tasks. They receive paychecks for 18 hours of work a week.

Interested in learning more about the Fife Jobs Program?

• Read how the program was launched in the November 2021 issue of the Fife newsletter.
• Learn about the challenges of escaping the culture of homelessness, and how the program fits into Fife’s greater response to the homelessness crisis in the fall 2022 issue of Fife magazine.
• Hear bi-monthly updates from program leaders at city council meetings on the second Tuesday of every other month. This update from the Oct. 11 meeting includes a testimonial from a program participant at the 1:00 mark. An update during the Feb. 14 meeting includes another testimonial from a program graduate at the 26:00 mark.

Program Contacts

• City of Fife Jobs Program Operations Contact: Megan Jendrick, mjendrick@cityoffife.org
• City of Fife Community Navigator: Norman Brickhouse, nbrickhouse@cityoffife.org