Curtis Zinn (left) suits up before skydiving at Skydive Snohomish’s Fill the Sky with Hope event on Saturday, July 1. Zinn, and others who receive assistance from Housing Hope, took to the skies on Saturday to overcome fear and celebrate their sobriety. (Ian Terry / The Herald)

Curtis Zinn (left) suits up before skydiving at Skydive Snohomish’s Fill the Sky with Hope event on Saturday, July 1. Zinn, and others who receive assistance from Housing Hope, took to the skies on Saturday to overcome fear and celebrate their sobriety. (Ian Terry / The Herald)

Skydivers take plunge at Housing Hope fundraiser in Snohomish

SNOHOMISH — Curtis Zinn came down from the sky cheering.

“Woo!” he yelled as his feet touched the ground and a bright red, white and blue parachute crumpled behind him and his instructor in the grassy field. “That was awesome!”

Over the last few years, he’s experienced homelessness, heroin addiction and months of family drug treatment court to regain custody of his 6-year-old son. He’s now sober, and he and his partner Ashley have been reunited with their son and are living near Marysville with help from the nonprofit Housing Hope. Zinn works for a geotechnical construction company that shores up slopes and trenches.

FillSkyWithHopeVideo from Everett Herald on Vimeo.

On Saturday, Zinn was among dozens of sky divers who drifted down to earth at Harvey Field as part of Fill the Sky with Hope, an event put on by Skydive Snohomish to raise money for Housing Hope. Last year, it raised $6,000. The turnout was similar this year, said Elaine Harvey, who owns the business with her husband. A portion of what people paid to skydive that day goes to the nonprofit, and many of the instructors chose to donate their wages, too.

For several Housing Hope participants, including Zinn, the skydiving class and jump were free.

“We see a really powerful metaphor with skydiving and empowering yourself, overcoming your fears and pushing beyond perceived limits,” Harvey said. “We want to show them that they can do that in other areas of their life, too.”

Zinn, born and raised in Lake Stevens, wasn’t scared to jump. He’s always been a thrill seeker and used to leap from cliffs and bridges into water, he said. Since he became a father to a blended family of six kids, ranging in age from 6 to 18, he’s been avoiding cliffs and bridges. Three of the children live with the couple now. Skydiving was on Zinn’s bucket list. It felt symbolic of overcoming the dark times in his life and finding a natural high.

“I’m a bird lover. I love eagles, hawks. I want that feeling like I’m flying,” he said before going up in the plane.

After landing, he said that’s precisely what he got.

For Zinn and many others, Housing Hope provides services such as life skills training, childcare, case management and help finding a job. The organization focuses on stable homes for families. It has low-income complexes around the county as well as a program where prospective homeowners can waive hefty down payments by putting in sweat equity, which means working on the homes themselves.

“It’s a blessing in words I can’t describe,” said Zinn, who stayed in a Housing Hope shelter and later moved with his family into one of the complexes. “The amount of help they’ve given us, the encouragement.”

At Skydive Snohomish, workers see a lot of celebrations. People jump from airplanes to celebrate marriages or divorces, beating cancer or reaching a milestone birthday. The sky-divers from Housing Hope have a lot to celebrate, Harvey said.

Erica Henry, another Housing Hope participant, kept her eyes closed during the first part of the jump, but her instructor encouraged her to open them and look at the view. It was amazing, she said. Terrifying, but amazing. She felt like she did something few people she knows would have the courage to do. Before the jump, she was afraid of heights. Afterward, she said it was one more fear conquered.

As for Zinn, he wanted to know when he could jump again.

“I’ll be back,” he promised his instructor as he left the field. “I’ll definitely be back.”

Kari Bray: 425-339-3439; kbray@heraldnet.com

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