Pierce County Human Services, along with more than 50 area human service partners, will be co-sponsoring a series of legislative forums next week.

Pierce County human and community service organizations, agencies and concerned citizens are invited to attend the legislative town hall meetings across the county. The meetings, by legislative district, are the result of a joint effort by the human service partners who have named themselves “Pierce County – Standing Together for People.”

All four town hall meetings will be from 6:30 p.m. to 8:30 p.m. The forum for Districts 2, 25 and 31 will be held Monday, Jan. 5 at the Puyallup High School auditorium (105 7th St. SW, Puyallup). The District 27 and 29 forum will be held Tuesday, Jan. 6 at the Catholic Community Services’ great room (1323 S. Yakima, Tacoma). For District 28, the forum will be held Wednesday, Jan. 7 at the Tacoma Community College auditorium (6501 S. 19th St., Tacoma, building 3). The last forum for District 26 will be held Thursday, Jan. 8 at the Gig Harbor Civic Center council chambers (3510 Grandview St., Gig Harbor).

The purpose of the town hall meetings is to present a unified message to the legislators and to ask for increased investment in supports and services for Pierce County’s most vulnerable citizens, but not at the expense of other social service programs. The intended outcome of the town hall meetings is to create a support network for legislative efforts to fund social services that are accountable, efficient and effective for the individuals and families most in need.