Common Ground Community Table is a Washington State nonprofit organization providing a comprehensive, one-stop continuum of care for people experiencing homelessness, mental health challenges, addiction, domestic violence, housing instability, and more. We are multi-faith, all-inclusive, trauma-informed, and peer-led. We are currently operating virtual services statewide and building toward a full pilot community including shelters, tiny homes, a nonprofit-owned trailer park, workforce development, and community gardens. Our mission is simple: no more runaround. One place. Real help. Every person welcomed without condition.

Partnership looks different depending on your organization and what you bring to the table. We offer several types of partnership — referral, service, fiscal sponsorship, faith community, and employer — each described below. What every partnership has in common is this: we show up for our partners the same way we show up for the people we serve — with transparency, reliability, and genuine relationship. We are not looking for logos on a website. We are looking for organizations that want to do real work together.

A referral partnership means our organizations agree to send people to each other when we encounter someone whose needs are better served by the other. If you serve someone who needs peer support, life coaching, or housing navigation — you send them to us. If we work with someone who needs a service your organization provides — we send them to you. No formal contract required. Just a shared commitment to making sure people get what they need without falling through the cracks.

This is our most accessible partnership type and a great place to start.

A service partnership goes deeper than referrals. Service partners collaborate directly on programming — co-facilitating groups, sharing space, providing complementary services to the same population, or integrating our work in a way that creates a more complete experience for the people we both serve. Service partnerships are built around a specific shared goal and developed collaboratively. If you have an idea for how our organizations could work together in a more integrated way — we want to hear it.

A fiscal sponsor is a registered 501(c)(3) nonprofit that agrees to receive grant funds on behalf of an organization that is pending tax-exempt status. Common Ground Community Table has submitted our 501(c)(3) application and is currently awaiting IRS approval — a process that typically takes several months. During that window, a fiscal sponsor allows us to apply for and receive grant funding under their tax-exempt umbrella, with funds passed through to Common Ground for our work. The fiscal sponsor typically retains a small administrative fee — usually 5 to 10 percent — as a standard practice.

Fiscal sponsorship is a well-established and widely used nonprofit practice. It does not require the sponsor to take on responsibility for our programs — only to receive and pass through funds in compliance with IRS requirements. If your organization is a registered 501(c)(3) and believes in our mission, we would be honored to have a conversation about this arrangement.

Common Ground Community Table is a multi-faith organization — meaning we welcome and work alongside people and organizations of all faith traditions and none. Faith community partners play a vital role in our ecosystem — as referral partners, community connectors, space providers, fiscal sponsors, and advocates. We are not asking faith partners to compromise their own values or mission. We are asking them to join a table that is big enough for everyone. If your faith community is called to serve the most vulnerable — we are probably already aligned.

We are multi-faith — which means we do not operate from a single religious framework. Our founder is an ordained minister, a person of deep personal faith, and someone who believes that every tradition has wisdom to offer. What we share with every faith partner is a commitment to serving people with dignity, compassion, and without judgment. If your organization's core calling is to love and serve your neighbors — we are at the same table, even if we arrive from different traditions.

Employer partners are businesses and organizations that commit to working with Common Ground Community Table's workforce development program to provide jobs, internships, and employment opportunities for people in our programs. Employer partners receive:

• Access to a motivated, trained, and supported talent pool

• Trauma-informed employer training — so your team knows how to support employees with complex histories

• Ongoing connection to our peer specialist staff for employee support

• Recognition as a values-aligned employer in our community

We are specifically looking for employers who believe that a person's history does not define their potential — and who are willing to give someone a real chance.

No. Most of our partnership types require no financial commitment whatsoever — just a willingness to show up, refer, and collaborate. Fiscal sponsorship involves receiving and passing through funds but does not require the sponsor to contribute their own money. If you want to support Common Ground financially, we welcome that conversation — but it is never a requirement for partnership.

Yes — on this we are clear. Common Ground Community Table serves all people without condition — including LGBTQIA2+ individuals and youth, people of all faiths and none, people with criminal histories, people in active addiction, and people from every background and circumstance. We cannot partner with organizations that discriminate against or exclude the people we serve. Our partners do not need to share every value we hold. But they do need to be willing to treat every person we send their way with dignity and respect.

We are a Washington State nonprofit organization currently awaiting 501(c)(3) tax-exempt status from the IRS. Our application has been submitted and we are in the review process. In the meantime we are actively seeking a fiscal sponsor to allow us to receive grant funding while our status is pending. We are happy to share our founding documents, organizational budget, bylaws, and any other information a potential partner needs to feel confident in working with us.

We take partnership seriously. Here is what you can expect from us:

• Honest, transparent communication — always

• Timely follow-through on referrals and commitments

• Recognition of your organization in our community materials

• A genuine relationship — not just a logo exchange

• Collaboration built around your capacity and ours

• A partner who shows up

Ready to Partner With Us?

We would love to hear from you. Head over to our Get Involved page to fill out our contact form — just let us know in the "tell us about yourself" field that you are reaching out about partnership and which type interests you. We will take it from there.

We respond within 5 business days and look forward to the conversation.