Building on a legacy

Although the name of the organization has changed and the focus of services has evolved with the needs of the community, HopeSparks has been helping people in Pierce County for more than 100 years.

When the doors of Associate Charities opened in 1895, the impact the organization would have had on thousands of lives was unimaginable. Initially, the organization provided services to help Pierce County families struggling during the Great Depression.

1921: Associated Charities became the Family Welfare Association and began working primarily with unwed & abandoned mothers.

1941: During wartime, the organization focused its efforts on the growing problem of domestic abuse and child neglect in Tacoma.

1967: The organization changed its name to Family Counseling Service as it began to primarily work with low-income families and children in Tacoma & Pierce County.

1990: Our current central facility, Wiegman Family Center, is built in Tacoma's north end.

1997: Child Guidance Clinic merges with the agency and it is renamed the Child & Family Guidance Center.

2005: Tacoma Learning Center merges with, and becomes a significant program of Child & Family Guidance Center. The pioneering Early Childhood Education experience of this program greatly added to the agency's mission of strengthening families.

2006: The Children's Wing opens in February and expands the capacity of Child & Family Guidance Center to serve a new generation of children in need.

2008: Child & Family Guidance Center becomes HopeSparks and continues to focus on strengthening families in Pierce County.