EVERETT – Some south Everett residents are resisting plans to house 10 women recovering from drug and alcohol addiction in their neighborhood.
The Everett Housing Authority is buying the Timber Hill Apartments just east of I-5 near 75th Street SE, and plans to gradually convert the 30 units into subsidized housing for people with low incomes.
Catholic Community Services will provide treatment and counseling to women who will move into 10 of those units with their young children.
At a public meeting on the proposal Monday night, Pat Tate said she doesn’t want people who have had drug or alcohol problems in her neighborhood.
“We already have drug dealers, and we already have sex offenders,” Tate said. “Enough is enough.”
Many of the 30 people at the meeting shared Tate’s concern with the plan. Residents said crime in their neighborhood has increased in recent years, and they feared that bringing in people struggling with substance abuse would only make the problem worse.
Ben Barnes, 42, pleaded with his neighbors to give the plan a chance.
“We need to be careful to not blame the problems that have happened in the last few years and lump them in with what they’re trying to do here,” Barnes said. “They are trying to do something good.”
Residents complained that they didn’t find out about the plan until reading about it in The Herald.
Bud Alkire, executive director of the Everett Housing Authority, said he would have notified neighbors if the plan had involved people who were just starting drug or alcohol treatment. But the women who will live at Timber Hill have been clean and sober for a year, so he didn’t think the plan would cause a controversy.
“We are talking about people who not only have made a decision to change their lives, but who have indeed changed their lives,” he said.
Jeri Mitchell, director of housing and development at Catholic Community Services in Snohomish County, said all 10 women would be randomly tested for drugs while living at Timber Hill. A counselor will pay unannounced visits at least once a week. If any of the women is found to be using drugs or alcohol, she will be evicted, Mitchell said.
In addition, Alkire said, the housing authority screens all tenants, and those with criminal histories are denied housing.
The City Council is scheduled to vote this morning on whether to contribute $217,337 to the purchase. The money comes from the city’s share of fees on documents filed with the county.
Alkire said the housing authority hopes to finalize the purchase by the end of the month. It has already paid a nonrefundable $22,500 deposit toward the $2.25 million purchase price, he said.
The Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation also will pay $75,000 for the treatment and counseling services over the next five years, and $150,000 toward the building purchase.
Reporter David Olson: 425-339-3452 or dolson@heraldnet.com.
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