Coming Home
By: Nicollette Roe, Education Advocate
One of the first things I hear people mention when they think about Tacoma is the infamous “Tacoma Aroma.” A catchphrase coined in ode to that awful smell you get driving past the Tacoma Dome on I-5.
It took me years to consider googling where the smell comes from. Turns out, it’s a combination of factors, but mostly due to a hundred years of industrial development on the tide flats (#NoLNG).
The other thing Tacoma gets mentioned for is the incredibly beautiful high school, Stadium, overlooking Commencement Bay. The movie Ten Things I Hate About You was filmed there. That, or crime rates in the 80’s. Tacoma for me, though, is none of those things. Rather, Tacoma holds a very familial place in my heart.
My connection to this unceded Puyallup territory started way before I was the newest Education Advocate to officially work here. It started when my family immigrated here from Samoa beginning in the late 70’s. First came my grandma Fofoga who later brought over everyone from her mother (my great-grandma), to my grandma’s younger siblings, their kids, and my dad and his siblings.
When my family came here, all of them lived in the Salishan community for quite some time. The Salishan community was Tacoma’s first public housing neighborhood. Below is an old picture of my great-grandma Fale at the Salishan house sitting with my second cousin, Raymond. Many immigrant families started out in this neighborhood; our story is not very different from others.
Having my family’s roots tied to Tacoma in this way, and being able to serve my community in the capacity of an Education Advocate, has been a feeling of coming home for me.
Tacoma is special. It feels like a city in a small town and the PRIDE here is just TUH. You’ll know when you’re meeting someone from Tacoma - they’ll say it without you asking pretty soon!
Officially being here as an Education Advocate is a reminder to me that community is everything. Within our community we can get whatever we need done. I love being able to be loyal to those we serve and not to institutions. Doing this work in my community - in my home - is even better!
Nic’s latest family reunion photo of everyone who lived in Tacoma. Most are still there but some have spread out North and South regions. Nic not pictured here because surprise, surprise, she was running late…
Nic’s great-grandmother Fale (left) with her second cousin, Raymond at the Salishan house.
Nic’s first family photo in her new house in Central Tacoma, bought almost a year ago. Nicollette (left), her partner David, and daughter, Cora.