3-bedroom Everett home converted into shelter to house dozens each year

EVERETT — An old church office is set to become emergency housing for homeless families in south Everett next week.

Interfaith Family Shelter, an emergency housing provider based in Everett, worked with Cascade View Presbyterian Church to revert the office into a three-bedroom home.

Three families at a time can stay at the shelter, called Hospitality House, for up to 90 days. During their stays, a case manager works with them to find more stable housing and to address what led to them becoming homeless in the first place, executive director Jim Dean said.

“Building another building for 20 families isn’t in the cards right now.” he said. “We’re working hard to address both sides of the homelessness issue — a place for people to be tonight and more places for people to have a forever home.”

The nonprofit expects to have 40 people, 24 of whom would be children, living at Hospitality House each year. An opening ceremony was set for 11:45 a.m. Sunday at 1010 E Casino Road.

It operates similar to the main shelter in north Everett and the satellite hosted by the Marysville United Methodist Church. The Marysville location, called Miracle House, opened in February 2020 and has hosted 16 families, Dean said.

Work on the Everett shelter cost about $20,000 and started almost a year ago. The church converted the former house into office space and leased it to the larger Presbyterian regional administration until the pandemic spurred its employees to work remotely.

With a vacant building, the church’s congregation considered its future, pastor Luke Hyder said. That included discussion about renting it to a nonprofit, converting it into a house for rent, or selling it.

Cascade View and Interfaith have been partners since 2019 when they began the Cars to Housing safe parking program.

Before it started, some neighbors had concerns over crime and property values. But since then, Pinehurst-Beverly Park Neighborhood Association chairperson Gary James said he hasn’t heard comments about it. He was confident Hospitality House would work just as well, he said.

“I believe the whole thing is going to work out and be a positive for the whole neighborhood,” James said.

When the office building became available, Interfaith proposed using it as emergency shelter, and the church’s leadership agreed.

“As a church, we think about what’s the best use of assets, like property, not through the lens of what makes us the most money, but what helps us make the biggest impact for our mission in our community,” Hyder said. “We couldn’t get any closer to serving neighbors than having people be our neighbors in our house.”

Getting it ready involved installing a full kitchen, as well as turning offices and a conference room into bedrooms and living space.

Case management and operations were estimated to cost $32,000 annually, Dean said. Rent is below market value, Hyder said. Some funding exists, but Interfaith was applying for grants and seeking donations to support it.

Families were expected to move in early this week. When they arrive, they’ll have fully furnished rooms and a stocked kitchen, thanks to donations from church members and others.

“We’re excited to get some families moved in and have a warm home by Christmas,” Hyder said.

Ben Watanabe: 425-339-3037; bwatanabe@heraldnet.com; Twitter: @benwatanabe.