$8M in behavioral health grants to benefit children, youth, families

EVERETT — A new Evergreen Manor Family Center will offer housing and services for over 200 “opioid-dependent” pregnant women, parents and their children each year in Everett’s Riverside neighborhood.

The 27,000-square-foot facility, still under construction, is “everything they have wished for” at the current facility, said Linda Grant, the center’s executive director.

It’s an expansion made possible through $2.9 million awarded to Evergreen Recovery Centers, one of five grants Snohomish County announced this week for projects to boost behavioral health capacity, with a total investment of $8 million in Edmonds, Everett, Lynnwood and Mountlake Terrace.

“We’ve had 20 years of working out of a facility that was never designed for families. And we’ve gone from pregnant women who had a child while they were in treatment here, to moms that come in with two or three children,” Grant said. “And so our new facility is built with space: with indoor play areas for the children, a rocking and reading room, a children’s library, a lot of quiet areas where people can get away, and a great big, huge family game and fun room.”

Patients at Evergreen Manor usually stay for six months. The new center will have child care with capacity for 50, compared to the capacity for 17 at the current facility at 2601 Summit Ave. It will also have a pediatric transitional care center with special medical care for newborns withdrawing from opiates.

The current facility will continue to house women without children, pregnant women or those with a very young baby. Larger family groups will live across the street at the manor. Grant said it is expected to open in September.

“As we talked to communities about ways to recover and move forward from COVID-19, there was consistent agreement around the need to expand affordable, high-quality behavioral health capacity serving all parts of the county,” Snohomish County Executive Dave Somers said in a press release.

The grants are part of the county’s federal American Rescue Plan Act allocation, and they will support buildings and programs to serve 440 more children and adults each year.

Volunteers of America Western Washington received $1.6 million for their Lynnwood Neighborhood Center project. This grant will be dedicated to the office space for behavioral health services for up to 40 individual appointments per day, group sessions and a range of services for children, youth and adults.

Kristi Myers, chief mission officer, said the behavioral health services and almost all other programming at the neighborhood center will focus on low-income families. Volunteers of America will break ground this fall, with a goal to open by the end of 2024.

All five Snohomish County Council members expressed support for the new grants in the press release.

“These federal dollars are being put to essential use, particularly for families who are struggling with mental health and substance abuse challenges,” said Council Vice Chair Nate Nehring. “We know that there is not enough behavioral health capacity in Snohomish County, and I’m particularly pleased to see that these programs will bring much-needed services to families and youth.”

The complete recipient list:

Evergreen Recovery Centers: $2.9 million

Edmonds School District: $1.8 million

Volunteers of America Western Washington: $1.6 million

Housing Hope: $1.5 million

Pioneer Human Services: $250,000

Joy Borkholder: 425-339-3430; joy.borkholder@heraldnet.com; Twitter: @jlbinvestigates.