EVERETT — Hope ‘N Wellness, a social service organization operating in downtown Everett, may have finally found a new home.
Our Lady of Hope Church in Everett is currently in talks with Hope ‘N Wellness to house the organization, the two groups have said. The move would allow Hope ‘N Wellness to stay open as it faces an April 30 deadline to either move or be closed for a code violation.
Hope ‘N Wellness, founded in 2020, operates a zero-barrier day center, primarily assisting people facing homelessness and addiction.
Since it opened in downtown Everett, the organization has been violating a city code, city staff have said, which prevents social services from operating on the ground floor of certain streets in Metro Everett. Those codes, introduced in 2006 and expanded upon in 2018, limit the uses of downtown storefronts to “create lively clusters of businesses that will positively activate our downtown core,” Everett Mayor Cassie Franklin previously said.
The city notified Donahue of the code violation in December 2023 and originally gave her a deadline of October 2024 to meet zoning requirements, either by closing the organization’s doors or finding a new location. The city later extended the deadline to Feb. 28 and extended it yet again to April 30.
Details of the move are not yet finalized, but the hope is Hope ‘N Wellness could move to the new location by the beginning of April, said the organization’s founder, Jasmine Donahue.
“We still have the details and kinks to work out, but I think it’s pretty definitive that those things would be sorted by the April 30 deadline,” Donahue said Monday.
The church’s pastor, Father Joseph Altenhofen, confirmed the agreement with Hope ‘N Wellness in an email but was unable to speak with The Daily Herald before deadline.
“I’m glad to hear Hope N Wellness may have identified a compliant new location that would allow them to continue providing much needed social services in our community,” Franklin wrote in a statement on Monday. “Faith organizations like Our Lady of Hope Church have been great partners to the City and we look forward to learning more about this potential new partnership.”
Our Lady of Hope is known to many of the people Hope ‘N Wellness serves, Donahue said, because it provides weekly hot meals to those in need. The church, located at 2617 Cedar St., also hosted a temporary cold weather shelter during a weeks-long cold spell this month.
“It seems like both parties are excited about the possibility of how this could look … They understand our zero-barrier approach and what that can look like, so it sounds like it could all be very positive,” Donahue said.
Hope ‘N Wellness will spend the coming weeks informing the people who use its services of the move. The organization hopes to work with the owner of its current location at 3021 Rucker Ave. to utilize the building in a code-complaint way.
One possibility could be turning it back into a coffee shop — its previous use before Hope ‘N Wellness moved in — to give job experience to people in need, Donahue said. Specifics, though, are still in the works.
The move, however, will allow Hope ‘N Wellness to focus on adding more services and offering more hours during the week.
“It feels exciting and apprehensive at the same time because change comes with its twists and turns and challenges,” Donahue said. “That’s just the reality of it. As long as it still works to support the population and support the community we serve, then I’m really hopeful. It feels good to have hope that it’ll continue on and potentially even have more potential to grow.”
Will Geschke: 425-339-3443; william.geschke@heraldnet.com; X: @willgeschke.
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