EVERETT — Just in time for dangerously low temperatures, an Everett nonprofit opened an additional cold weather shelter on Thursday in an east Everett church.
The temporary shelter, operating in Our Lady of Hope Church at 2619 Cedar St. in Everett, will only be open until Friday. It’s a short-term effort to try to save as many lives as possible during an unusual cold spell.
Six cold weather shelters operate regularly in Snohomish County between November and March. Two are located in Everett, operated by the Everett Gospel Mission. Volunteers of America Western Washington, the organization running the temporary shelter, already operates other emergency cold weather shelters in Lynnwood, Monroe and Snohomish.
The emergency shelters only open when temperatures are forecasted to drop below 34 degrees. Early Tuesday morning, temperatures dropped as low as 25 degrees, according to preliminary National Weather Service data. Wind chills were down to 17 degrees. Temperatures are expected to drop further overnight Tuesday, with a forecasted low of 21 degrees.
A high-pressure system caused dangerously low temperatures over the past week, with the National Weather Service issuing a cold weather advisory on Monday. Low temperatures in February normally hover just above freezing.
This year’s cold winter, however, has left volunteers and staff running the shelters facing long, difficult hours. Volunteers arrive around 7 p.m., after a day of work, and work for nearly two hours to help set up at the temporary shelter. Staff who work for Volunteers of America stay all night to ensure those sleeping inside are safe.
“It gets tiring,” said Taura Schlicker, who helps run the shelters in Monroe and Snohomish and was volunteering at the east Everett shelter on Monday. “Especially when you have another full-time job, you start feeling like you might never have a day off. It wears on you. There’s a lot of work.”
Since the start of January, the need to keep shelters open has “barely slowed down,” Schlicker said.
The temporary location, which sleeps 30 people, is “extremely important” as other shelters are reaching capacity due to the dangerous weather, said Galina Volchkova, executive director of housing services at Volunteers of America. She was grateful that the city of Everett helped find the location while the Our Lady of Hope church partnered to help open the shelter. Snohomish County funds the cold weather shelters.
The nonprofit has been searching for a south Everett site for a cold weather shelter since last August but is yet to find a location. A location would have to be a space that is not used during winter nights and can be opened between November and March when temperatures drop below 34 degrees. Because it’s an emergency shelter, it cannot conflict with other services. Locations would also need access to bathrooms, running water and, ideally, a commercial kitchen.
“We just need to remember, no one was born on the street,” Volchkova said.
One volunteer at the shelter on Monday, Timothy Evans, was planning to sleep there as well. A former commercial truck driver from Snohomish, he’s been homeless for over a year, trying to get access to housing assistance.
“I’ve been calling 211, all the different agencies,” Evans said. “I’m just so sick and tired of it.”
He volunteers at the shelters when he can. His dog, Hammer, is a “local celebrity” for staff and guests there, he said.
Everett Transit and Community Transit provide fare-free rides for people going to shelters. If you can’t volunteer or donate to help at the shelters, spread the word that they’re open. You may save a life.
“If you see someone who’s sleeping on the street when it’s this cold out, let them know there’s options available,” said Adam Kartak, who manages Snohomish County’s coordinated entry program. “Let them know that transit will take them for free to a cold weather shelter. People just don’t know.”
Will Geschke: 425-339-3443; william.geschke@heraldnet.com; X: @willgeschke.
Locations
South County Cold Weather Shelter: 17620 60th Ave. W, Lynnwood. Intake from 7-9 p.m.
Snohomish Cold Weather Shelter: 210 Avenue B, Snohomish. Intake from 8-10 p.m.
Monroe Cold Weather Shelter: 342 S Lewis Street, Monroe. Intake from 8-10 p.m.
Marysville Cold Weather Shelter: 7215 51st Ave. NE, Marysville. Intake from 7-9:30 p.m.
Everett Family Cold Weather Shelter: 5216 S 2nd Ave., Everett. Intake from 4-8 p.m.
Everett Cold Weather Shelter: 2624 Rockefeller Ave., Everett. Intake from 8-10 p.m.
East Everett Cold Weather Shelter: 2619 Cedar St., Everett. Intake from 8-10 p.m. Closes Feb. 14.
To volunteer
Everett: Visit https://egmission.org/getinvolved/volunteer/.
Marysville: Visit https://www.lincnw.org/marysville-cold-weather-shelter.
Monroe, Snohomish, Lynnwood, East Everett: Email volunteer@voaww.org.
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