South SnoCo’s only hygiene center secures support to stay open
Published 1:30 am Thursday, December 18, 2025
LYNNWOOD — Travel writer and local philanthropist Rick Steves is buying the Lynnwood Hygiene Center property, he announced Wednesday, allowing the center to stay open.
In November, the Jean Kim Foundation, which runs the center, announced it would be closing the facility’s doors on Dec. 12. The owner of the hygiene center property was looking to sell for $2.5 million, said Sandra Mears, executive director of the Jean Kim Foundation. Shortly after, the foundation shared that an anonymous donor had committed $2 million to go toward buying the building.
At an event at the center Wednesday, Steves told the crowd he reached a deal with the owner to buy the property. He described learning the center was in danger of closing on a trip to Arizona.
“It all happened in rapid succession,” he said. “I came home, and I was just hell-bent on getting a way to save this facility because the landlord had to sell it. And I just decided I wanted to buy this place. And I did.”
The Lynnwood Hygiene Center, located at 19726 64th Ave. W., is the only hygiene center in south Snohomish County. It provides free showers, restrooms, clothes and food to people experiencing homelessness. Since it opened in 2020, the center has provided 53,000 showers. The center also provides space for local providers to meet with people who are seeking social services.
Steves is allowing the foundation to continue using the property free-of-charge, he said.
“I vividly remember what it’s like — as a kid backpacking around the world — to need a shower and to need a place to wash your clothes,” he said. “This is a place that gives countless people that are down and out a shower and a place to wash their clothes, and they get a hot meal. What’s not to like about that?”
Local resident Cody Cox uses the hygiene center daily. Once he learned it was staying open, his stress went away, he said.
“I was kinda freaked out,” he said. “The only other place to shower is to make an account at LA Fitness or pay for the water parks or go to the truck stops, which I don’t have money for. It’s been kind of overwhelming, but I’m glad that they’re not going away.”
When the foundation announced the center had to close, it received an outpouring of community support, said Ted Haase, president of the Jean Kim Foundation Board of Directors. He said he was recently volunteering at a park when three separate people approached him to donate money, jackets and soap.
“These essentials are loving gifts that help our guests,” Haase said. “These essentials help build a community of dignity and hope.”
In November, the Hazel Miller Foundation called on the community to help support the center’s operations. Maria Montavlo, chair of the Hazel Miller Foundation Board of Directors, said many local organizations pitched in.
“A lot of times, you look at problems in your community or your society, and you think, ‘There’s nothing I can do about that,’” Montavlo said. “When it comes down to it, you can always do something about it.”
Jenna Peterson: 425-339-3486; jenna.peterson@heraldnet.com; X: @jennarpetersonn.
