EVERETT — Hope springs eternal. But sometimes it has to move.
A day center for homeless and other struggling people reopened in a new space last week after city officials threatened to shut down the center’s old location for violating a law that prohibits street-level social services on certain downtown blocks.
Rather than continue operating from a former coffee shop on Rucker Avenue, Hope ‘N Wellness is now using a Cedar Street building owned by Our Lady of Hope Catholic Church. The homeless-aid organization was facing a closure deadline of April 30 on Rucker Avenue until the church stepped up to help, so the solution is a huge relief, executive director Jasmine Donahue said.
“It’s like 5,000 pounds just came off my shoulders,” she said Wednesday as Hope ‘N Wellness participants sipped coffee in metal folding chairs in the new space.
At the same time, Donahue harbors mixed feelings about the move, because it means the city has succeeded in pushing Hope ‘N Wellness out of a spot with a community feeling where vulnerable people felt safe, she said.
“Shoving people out doesn’t help them recover or grow,” Donahue said.
Officials began pressuring the homeless center to close more than a year ago, citing complaints about loitering and camping on Rucker Avenue. They said the city’s social services ban is supposed to make downtown Everett more vibrant by creating “synergistic opportunities” for shops and restaurants.
Hope ‘N Wellness supporters pushed back this winter, accusing officials of trying to spruce up the area for development by pushing homeless people and drug users out. Similar debates have flared in other Puget Sound cities struggling to revive their downtowns in the wake of the COVID-19 pandemic.
“With the great need for social services and support locally and throughout the region, we are glad Hope ‘N Wellness found a new location,” Nichole Webber, a spokesperson for the city, said in an email this week.
Hope ‘N Wellness provides free coffee, food, hygiene supplies and clothes to people coming off the streets. The center is also a place to rest, make phone calls, get counseling and meet with case managers. You don’t have to be sober and don’t have to share your whole name to spend time there.
Donahue didn’t know about the city’s downtown land-use law when she founded Hope ‘N Wellness during the pandemic and didn’t hear from city officials about the law until December 2023. They initially gave her an October 2024 deadline to close or move, then extended the deadline more than once.
The Rucker Avenue space was located near Everett’s library, jail and courts, and the landlord was giving Hope ‘N Wellness a discount on rent, so finding a comparable new location was challenging, Donahue said. Salvation came when Donahue heard from Dennis Kelly, a deacon at Our Lady of Hope.
The church had previously talked to the city about hosting a day center in its Cedar Street accessory building, Kelly said. That plan got stuck in bureaucracy related to public funding, but the idea lingered, he said.
“They’ve been wanting to do this and needed staff to run it,” Donahue said. “We’re already running it and we needed a place. It worked out perfect.”
The Cedar Street building is located just outside downtown Everett, so it’s convenient for Hope ‘N Wellness participants without violating the city’s law.
The center was operating one day per week on Rucker Avenue and will continue with that schedule for now, with more days possible later.
The church’s bright, airy building will take some getting used to for Hope ‘N Wellness. It’s not homey like the Rucker Avenue space, which had art everywhere. But a number of participants showed up Wednesday morning, crossing a hardwood floor to grab snacks and charge their phones.
Michael McCoy, who’s been homeless for a year, walked a mile to reach the center. Kevin Lanting, who’s recovering from addiction, rummaged through a bin of donated clothes, picked out a purple University of Washington shirt and launched into an analysis of the UW football team’s budding talents.
“It’s a blessing to have this resource,” he said. “Everyone is welcome here.”
Although Our Lady of Hope won’t impose religious requirements on Hope ‘N Wellness participants, the center’s services align with the church’s values, said Kelly, the deacon. The church serves Monday dinners to homeless people out of the building on Cedar Street and has a food bank there, too.
“If Jesus were here today, what would he want us to do?” Kelly asked, explaining why the church got involved. “We serve people on the margins.”
Donahue said she had a good feeling about the arrangement partly because the church’s name and her organization’s both contain the word “hope.”
“It was meant to be,” Kelly said. “That’s the way we look at it.”