EVERETT — Hope ‘N Wellness, a social service organization operating in Everett, is set to change locations on Wednesday in a move that will allow it to continue operating.
It brings an end to a saga lasting more than a year, which began after the city notified the organization in December 2023 that its original location — at 3021 Rucker Ave. — violated a city code. That code, originally passed in 2006 and expanded upon in 2018, prohibited social service organizations, along with other types of businesses, from operating on the first floor of certain streets in downtown Everett.
Now, Hope ‘N Wellness will partner with Our Lady of Hope Church to run the organization at 2617 Cedar St., about a mile away from its original location. It means the organization can stay open, with the possibility to expand hours of operation and add additional services in the future.
“It feels really good,” said Jasmine Donahue, the founder of Hope ‘N Wellness, in an interview Friday. “It feels like a huge weight has been lifted.”
Our Lady of Hope’s pastor, Joseph Altenhofen, has spent years looking to use the church’s facilities for social service work. The church already operates a weekly hot meal program on Mondays, and the church hosted a temporary cold weather shelter — operated by Volunteers of America Western Washington — during a spell of unusually cold weather in February.
Once Altenhofen’s parishioners told him about Donahue’s struggles with Hope ‘N Wellness, he met with both Donahue and the city to discuss hosting the social service at the church, he said in a March 5 interview. Eventually, he hopes to partner with other churches and social service providers in the area, so the location could become a sort of “hub for the homeless population,” he said, increasing the frequency of hot meals and social services at the church.
For the time being, however, Hope ‘N Wellness will still be limited to one open day per week at the new location. Part of the reason behind that is the effort required to bring services back to the level of staying open multiple days per week, Donahue said. Another part of the equation is the surrounding neighbors — Altenhofen wants to makes sure the services don’t impact the neighborhood the church is located in.
“We want things to just be able to work hand in hand,” Altenhofen said. “But at the same time, we want it to be done well so that our neighbors don’t feel super unsafe and can be proud that it’s being done close.”
Over the next few years, Altenhofen hopes to loop in social workers, city staff and drug and mental health counselors to work side by side with Hope ‘N Wellness.
Donahue first opened Hope ‘N Wellness at the 3021 Rucker Ave. location in 2020. After the city notified her of the code violation in December 2023, she began searching for a new place to host the services in. That proved difficult because the organization was in a central, convenient location for the people who needed the services, and her agreement with the property owner kept the organization’s overhead costs low.
Initially, the city gave Donahue a deadline of October 2024 to meet zoning requirements, either by closing the organization or moving it to a different location. The city later extended that deadline to Feb. 28, then extended it again to April 30.
“With the great need for social services and support locally and throughout the region, we are glad Hope N Wellness found a new location that will allow them to continue serving those in need in Everett,” city spokesperson Simone Tarver wrote in an email.
Donahue plans to meet with the Rucker Avenue location’s property owner to discuss next steps on how to utilize that space in a code-compliant way, she said. No plans for that location have been solidified.
Leaving that location after five years of operating Hope ‘N Wellness there is “bittersweet,” Donahue said. But she is looking forward to spending more energy and time on providing services to people in need, and said the transition has been smooth.
“There’s a lot of alignment with Hope ‘N Wellness and what we’re trying to do,” Donahue said of the partnership with Our Lady of Hope. “It aligns that we’re just trying to support the community, and it’s gone really, really well.”
Will Geschke: 425-339-3443; william.geschke@heraldnet.com; X: @willgeschke.
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