HILLTOP
COMMUNITY
ENDOWMENT
ADG MLK LLC Pledges $500,000 to the Hilltop Community
The Aspire11 Hilltop Community Endowments annual grants will support organizations through the Greater Tacoma Community Foundation. With its establishment, the Endowment will play a part in helping the Hilltop Community where the Aspire11 building is located.
Official Fund Description: The Aspire 11 Hilltop Community Endowments annual grants should aim to increase the socioeconomic, health, and education outcomes of those living or working in the Hilltop Community, who face economic hardships.
The Endowment will be established through a $50,000 donation and will increase each year by $50,000 until the fund meets the ADG MLK LLC pledge of $500,000. Each year, the Endowment will disperse the interest accrued from the fund. As time goes by, the interest amount will grow, and so will the impact of the financial contribution to the community.
Community is an essential aspect of Aspire11, and as this fund grows in perpetuity, its roots in the community will be more profound. The Endowment will disperse funds to the community forever and continue to mature within the Greater Tacoma Community Foundation, a 501(C)(3) organization located in Tacoma. Please visit (gtcf.org/about/financial-information/) for more financial information.
MLK JR WAY HILLTOP PAVERS & PLAQUES PROJECT
As part of the Links to Opportunities Hilltop Streetscape Improvement Project, we are installing a series of markers and plaques about important people, places, and events in Hilltop along Martin Luther King Jr. Way, between 6th Ave and S. 19th.
Honoring Hilltop: Stories of Place, People, and Legacy in Bronze and Stone.
City of Tacoma Arts and Cultural Vitality Division
March 3, 2025
This project celebrates the rich history of Tacoma’s Hilltop neighborhood through a series of permanent public art installations. Informed by community outreach from 2016–2018, residents called for Hilltop’s legacy to be meaningfully reflected in the design of the streetscape.
Led by local artist, historian, and Hilltop resident Whitney Brady, the project includes 20 bronze plaques highlighting significant events and locations, and 18 granite markers honoring individuals who helped shape the Hilltop community. A comprehensive sign will offer an overview of the project, and an online component will provide deeper historical context and additional resources.
The first nine granite markers—featuring notable Hilltop figures—will be installed between South 9th Street and Earnest S. Brazill Street. The remaining markers and plaques are currently in development.
