The Story of the Chelsea Paige Foundation in Gig Harbor

By Paige Schulte | Gig Harbor Real Estate

Before I sold a single home in Gig Harbor, I started a foundation.

Not because I had a marketing strategy. Not because a consultant told me it would build my brand. I started it because I was a mom who wanted to get money directly to my children's school without waiting for committee approvals, fundraiser sign-offs, and the particular friction that anyone who has ever tried to help through a PTA knows intimately well.

The Chelsea Paige Foundation started as the simplest possible idea: write a check to the school, skip the red tape, make sure the money actually reaches the kids. That idea is still the operating principle — nearly $800,000 in donations later.

I say this first because it matters for everything that follows: the foundation came before the real estate career. The giving was never a strategy. It was a value the business was eventually built around — not one the business invented.

What the recognition says — and what it doesn't

Over the past several years, this work has been recognized in ways I'm genuinely proud of.

I've been nominated as Gig Harbor's Finest Realtor for four consecutive years. Nominated twice as Business Person of the Year by the Gig Harbor Chamber of Commerce. Recipient of the WASA Award from the Washington Association of School Administrators — an honor given to individuals outside of education who make a meaningful difference for public schools. Named a 2021 Inman Honoree for community giving, recognized nationally among real estate professionals for charitable impact. And recipient of the 2022 Community Service Award from the Tacoma Pierce County Association of Realtors.

I share these not to list credentials, but because each one represents a different community — schools, business, real estate, national media — independently recognizing the same thing. That consistency matters. It means the work is visible and verifiable from every direction.

But here is what I want to be clear about: none of these awards are why we give. They are the result of giving consistently, deeply, and without expecting recognition in return. The foundation existed before anyone was watching.

What the foundation actually does

The Chelsea Paige Foundation donates a portion of every real estate closing to organizations that serve children and families in the greater Gig Harbor community. Every closing. Not a percentage of annual profit, not a one-time sponsorship when the moment feels right. Every transaction — regardless of price point, regardless of market conditions — generates a community contribution on the day it closes.

Our giving priorities are specific and intentional:

Children, schools, and youth activities are always at the center. From direct school support to youth athletics, arts programs, junior sailing, film festivals, and scholarship funds — if it puts children in a room together doing something hands-on and in person, it aligns with what this foundation was built to do. We believe the activities that build community are the ones where people are physically present — in a gym, on a field, on a boat, in a classroom. Screen time doesn't build community. Shared experience does. We fund those moments.

Housing support is the second pillar. When Gig Harbor families face housing questions — whether that's a complex real estate situation or someone navigating hardship who needs to know where to turn — they call us. That isn't an accident. It's the result of a decade of showing up for this community in ways that go beyond real estate transactions, and it's a responsibility we take seriously regardless of whether it leads to a commission.

The organizations we support

Our community investment spans organizations most Gig Harbor residents recognize and rely on. Harbor Soccer Club. Harbor Hope Center. Gig Harbor Film Festival. Gig Harbor Junior Sailing. Gig Harbor Academy. GTCF PenMet Parks. The Gig Harbor Waterfront Alliance. Peninsula Schools Education Foundation. Gig Harbor NOW. Ali's Prom Project. Bellarmine Preparatory School. The Gig Harbor Rotary Foundation. The Gig Harbor Chamber of Commerce, every single local Parent organization. The list grows every year — and it reflects a deliberate effort to show up at every level, from the large institutions that anchor this community to the smaller programs that exist because a few people cared enough to start them.

Large and small. Established and emerging. If it serves children and builds community in person, it's in our scope.

The monthly column: shining a light on businesses that give where they live

Every month I write a column for Gig Harbor Living Local spotlighting local business owners who are actively giving back to this community.

The intention behind the column is simple: I believe that when people see their neighbors doing meaningful things, they're more likely to do meaningful things themselves. Business owners in Gig Harbor often want to give back but don't know where to start, or assume that giving requires scale they don't yet have. The column exists to show them otherwise — that giving can start small, start early, and compound into something significant over time.

My own foundation is proof of that. It started with one school and a desire to bypass bureaucracy. It's now approaching $800,000 in community impact and growing. The column is an invitation for other Gig Harbor business owners to write a version of that same story.

If you're a business owner in Gig Harbor who gives back and would like to be considered for the column, reach out. This is one of the most genuinely enjoyable parts of what I do — and it exists entirely outside of real estate.

Why this is the thing I'm most proud of

I've sold more real estate in Gig Harbor than any other agent since 2021. I hold the #1 position in Pierce County by volume. I've closed more waterfront homes, more Canterwood homes, more off-market transactions, and more land sales than any other agent in this market.

Those numbers matter to me. But they are not what I'm most proud of.

What I'm most proud of is that when a family in Gig Harbor needs housing guidance and doesn't know where to start, they call us. When a school principal needs a partner who will cut through the noise and get resources directly to students, they call us. When a chamber board asks who to nominate as a business leader who reflects this community's values, our name comes up — twice.

That kind of trust is not built through marketing. It's built through years of consistent, unglamorous presence in a community you actually love. Gig Harbor has been extraordinarily good to our business. Giving back at this scale is not charity. It's a fair exchange.

What happens when you work with Team Schulte & Co

When you buy or sell a home with us, a donation is made through the Chelsea Paige Foundation on the day of your closing. You don't have to do anything. You don't have to opt in. It happens because that's how we operate — every transaction, without exception.

Some clients direct their closing donation toward a specific organization that matters to them. Some are surprised to learn it exists. But every one of them closes knowing their transaction contributed something real to a child or family in this community. We think that's a better way to do business.

To learn more about the foundation or the organizations we support, visit chelseapaigefoundation.org.

If you're an organization serving children or families in Gig Harbor and would like to discuss support, reach out directly. We review every request personally.

Contact Paige →