Community members tour Lynnwood Neighborhood Center project

LYNNWOOD — Rotary club members from south Snohomish County gathered Thursday in bright yellow vests and white hard hats to see how a new neighborhood center is coming together.

The Lynnwood Neighborhood Center will serve as a hub for health and human services in south Snohomish County, Volunteers of America Western Washington spokesperson Joel Feldman said Thursday. It will house several nonprofit organizations, including Center for Human Services, Cocoon House and a new Boys & Girls Club chapter. The center is a collaboration between Volunteers of America, Lynnwood’s Trinity Lutheran Church and the Boys & Girls Club.

Initial ideas for the $26.5 million, 40,000-square-foot project began about 15 years ago. Congregants at Trinity Lutheran Church wanted to transform vacant land into a space that would serve the community. Travel writer and local philanthropist Rick Steves contributed seed money for the project.

Construction crews broke ground on the center in April 2024. Volunteers of America expects organizations to begin moving in by early December and to have a grand opening in early January 2026, Feldman said.

The center is funded through a combination of federal, state, county and city funding, Feldman said, along with individual donations. The project received $1 million from the city of Lynnwood, $250,000 from Mountlake Terrace and $100,000 from Edmonds.

When visitors enter the building, they’ll step into the “piazza,” which houses a welcome desk and cafe. To the left is a kids wing, which will house the Boys & Girls Club and early learning preschool. Both programs will have access to a half-court gymnasium, which community organizations will be able to use later in the day, Feldman said.

The center has four early learning classrooms, which could serve 80 to 160 kids. Feldman said care would be free or highly subsidized.

“The average family could be spending upwards of 50% of their take-home income on early learning right now, and that is astronomical,” he said. “So imagine if a single mom or single dad is trying to get by, and they only have that one income, so we really need to make sure that they are able to get that early learning. It’s one of those things that we hear all the time.”

To the right is a commercial kitchen and community event space that holds 250 to 500 people. There’s also a space for Volunteers of America’s day programs for adults with disabilities.

“We’re able to give them some dignity and have them live on their own,” Feldman said. “So we’re going to have some classes where they’re able to come in, socialize, do all those wonderful things.”

Volunteers of America may also use the space for senior services.

Upstairs, the center will house ChildStrive, Latino Educational Training Institute, Korean Community Service Center, Cocoon House and Center for Human Services. There will also be a wellness center, technical center and Volunteers of America’s Community Resource Center.

“When families have a problem, they’re going to go all the way up to Everett, or they’re going to go all the way down to Seattle, and there’s nothing really in between to help them out,” Feldman said. “So to be able to have an office down here, centrally located here in Lynnwood in south Snohomish County, we’re going to be able to help those families in need.”

Rotary club members also broke ground on a $160,000 playground that will serve the center’s early learning preschool and Boys & Girls Club. Four rotary clubs in south Snohomish County raised $24,000 for the project.

“We Rotarians are so excited to be playing a role in this wonderful project because playgrounds are essential in promoting exercise, confidence, social interaction, and building essential physical skills,” said Barbara Lindberg, secretary of the Rotary Club of Lynnwood, in a press release Monday.

Jenna Peterson: 425-339-3486; jenna.peterson@heraldnet.com; X: @jennarpetersonn.