By Janice Podsada
EVERETT — On a rainy November evening some 10 years ago, Judy Hoff got off work and headed to her car, parked in downtown Everett.
On her way there, she spotted a young woman in an alley trying to crawl into a large garbage can, her lodging for the night.
Hoff drove the woman to a local shelter.
The experience shook her.
At the time there were few emergency housing options for homeless women and children, Hoff said.
“I cried and I prayed,” she recalled. “I got a vision and followed it.”
A few months later, she founded Esther’s Place, a faith-based day shelter for women and children.
“Everyone deserves a safe place to be,” Hoff said.
Hot meals, hot showers, clothing and comfort are among its many offerings.
Since 2014, the day shelter has served nearly 27,000 women and children.
Named after Esther, the biblical figure who followed God’s vision, the day shelter was originally located in the basement of the First Presbyterian Church on Rockefeller Avenue in Everett.
As more women sought refuge, Hoff sought a more homelike setting.
In 2021, Esther’s moved to 3705 Broadway in Everett, a former family home.
Today, the nonprofit serves hot breakfasts and lunches and offers women a place to rest, socialize or seek help.
Each day it serves from 30 to 50 women.
Bright, cheery surroundings offer a welcome break from the streets.
It’s cozy inside. Pull up a chair.
A spotless dining room is stocked with TV, puzzles and board games.
Warm jackets, shoes and shirts along with backpacks and bedding stock the shelter’s clothing pantry.
Staff and volunteers can connect women trying to escape domestic violence, sex-trafficking, homelessness or addiction with local programs and services.
”Esther’s is a place of compassion,” Hoff said.
Sandra Stringham, 50, is one of the shelter’s beneficiaries.
Stringham discovered Esther’s Place at a time when her life was wracked by drug use, she said.
Now, clean and sober, she is the shelter’s Chaos Coordinator, a full-time job.
Stringham is proud to be seen by women who knew her when her life was in turmoil.
“They see me now and know that you can come out of it,” she said.
The shelter is open from 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. but staff make sure visitors leave with snacks and food for the evening.
On a recent afternoon, Lynda Knight and Teresia Lofgren, both homeless, both in their 60s, squared off over a game of Shut the Box.
“I live in my car,” Lofgren volunteered. “They offer so much: free showers, clothing, bedding, friendship and games.”
For Knight, who visits almost daily, Esther’s “is a safe place to be,” she said. “It’s a release to be able to sit back and not think about anything.”
Women in need of a nap can find a cot and sleep undisturbed.
And with Everett’s ‘no sit, no lie’ ordinance expanding, the need for a safe place to rest has grown, Stringham said.
Hoff hopes to expand Esther’s Place and offer even more services.
She’d like to redesign the building’s second floor and turn it into a “family room” with couches, TV screens and a popcorn machine.
Esther’s Place is supported by the Hoff Foundation, a nonprofit umbrella organization that also backs the “Queen, It’s a New Day,” event to celebrate women on the road to self-sufficiency.
The foundation also funds the New Creations Communities Housing, a live-in recovery program. It currently houses 27 women in three Marysville homes.
“Many have fled from abuse and are homeless,” Hoff said. “Others are fresh out of jail or leaving other programs and need support.”
Life skills classes, mentors and recovery groups anchor the state-certified program’s suite of services, she said
Women must be clean and sober to participate.
Since its founding, New Creations has provided housing to more than 300 women.
Janice Podsada is a freelance writer and former employee of the Everett Herald.
Esther’s Place, 3705 Broadway Ave., Everett
Hours: 9 a.m. to 4 p.m., Monday – Friday
Phone: 425-374-2329
Email: info@hofffoundation.org
Website: hofffoundation.org
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