Tacoma for All (TFA) was founded in 2022 by residents and organizers—many with lived experience of housing insecurity—who united to fight the displacement of our working-class communities. At the time, Tacoma was reeling from a 43% rent increase over five years, growing homeless encampments, and a City Council that refused to consider meaningful solutions. We formed to address the root cause of this crisis: a system that treats housing as a commodity for profit rather than a human right.

Early Victories and the Battle for Initiative 1

Our movement proved its power early in 2022 at Meridian Estates. We organized 26 immigrant families facing eviction, launching a public pressure campaign that forced a $600,000 relocation settlement from the developers. This victory established our core principle: collective action gets results.

In January 2023, we launched the Tenant Bill of Rights initiative (formally called the Landlord Fairness Code) to win the strongest tenant protections in the state. The road to the ballot was a battle for local democracy:

  • Building a Volunteer Army: We built a volunteer army from scratch to collect over 7,300 signatures to qualify the initiative with an army of over 100 volunteers.

  • Defeating City Hall: When the City Council attempted to put a deceptive competing initiative on the ballot to derail us on behalf of the landlord lobby, we took them to court and won, ensuring only our measure reached the voters.

  • Overcoming Big Money: Following our court victory, out-of-town real estate and landlord groups shattered all spending records in Tacoma history, pouring $365,000 into a campaign of deception and smears.

  • The People's Mandate: Powered by our volunteer army and $135,000 raised from 500+ individual donors, we won a landmark victory for 100,000 tenants in November 2023.

A Historic Victory

This victory fundamentally shifted the political landscape. By mandating relocation assistance for rent hikes over 5%, we created a de facto rent cap that has protected families from predatory increases ever since. Mandating a 6-month notice for rent hikes and capping fees allows tenants essential financial breathing room.

The strong eviction protections we won were rooted in anti-racist working-class solidarity. In Pierce County, Black and Latino households are seven times more likely to face eviction, and a staggering 25% of Black children face eviction filings annually. We are proud that our 2023 victory included cold-weather and school-year eviction moratoriums specifically designed to slow this racialized displacement and protect Tacoma’s most precarious families.

Regional and Statewide Ripple Effects

Tacoma’s victory reshaped the debate across the Northwest. At the state level, Tacoma’s Senator Yasmin Trudeau leveraged our win to convince colleagues to pass a historic Rent Stabilization bill—the first to cap rent increases in Washington history. Inspired by our success, cities from Portland to Bellingham passed similar protections.

Tenant Education and Legal Defense

Throughout 2024 and 2025, our volunteers canvassed thousands of neighbors to ensure that "rights on paper" became rights in reality. We organized “Know Your Rights” trainings across the city, empowering tenants to recognize and resist illegal landlord behavior.

In December 2024, Tacoma for All launched Tacoma Tenant Legal Aid in partnership with Nexus Legal Counsel, providing a vital lifeline for those facing displacement or harassment. By combining professional legal support with grassroots organizing, we successfully stood alongside tenants across Tacoma to defeat illegal rent hikes, claw back predatory fees, and block unlawful evictions. This combination of legal and organizing work proved that when tenants have both the law and a movement behind them, they can win.

The Future: Tenant Unions and SAFE Homes

We are now bridging the gap between mass political action and deep, building-level organization. We have assisted immigrant residents at Canterbury Manufactured Homes in forming a union and helped launch a super-majority union at the New York Apartments. These are the first in what promises to be a growing independent tenant union movement in Tacoma.

By early 2026, funded by hundreds of grassroots donations, we have expanded our staff to three part-time members as we launch the SAFE Homes for All initiative. We are moving from winning rights to ensuring fair enforcement, proving that an organized working class is the most effective defense against corporate domination of our homes, our politics, and our lives.