EVERETT — As visitors stream through Clare’s Place during a preview open house, Nick Morin is busy watering plants in raised flower beds on the back patio.
There is a wide variety, including hyssop, chives, and parsley — at least a couple dozen kinds, he estimates.
“This is a sampler plate,” said Morin, director of landscape architecture for Environmental Works Community Design Center. Some of the flora is out of season, but “we wanted to have something here for when the tenants arrive.”
Tenants began arriving last week at the blue-and-white, four-story building behind the corner of Evergreen Way and Pecks Drive. By the end of summer, all of its 65 apartments will be filled with previously homeless people from Snohomish County.
Clare’s Place provides permanent supportive housing, in the guise of a contemporary apartment.
“This doesn’t look like ‘low-income housing,’ or an institution,” said Sarah Jayne Barrett, the Northwest region housing director for Catholic Community Services, which manages the facility.
It sure doesn’t.
One of the first things visitors notice after walking through the front door are the rows of mailboxes lining the foyer, symbols of permanence for many who have lacked an address more than a year.
A model one-bedroom apartment is light and airy, with white walls and faux wood floor. It includes a refrigerator, oven and stove.
Unopened boxes on the kitchen counter hold a microwave, a toaster, a slow cooker and a coffee maker. There are packs of basic silverware, cooking utensils and a pair of hot-plate gloves.
A dark brown, rectangular dining table, flanked by two chairs, sits next to a window. On top of the table are two bowls, a pair of coffee cups, and two sets of different-sized plates.
The bathroom includes a combination tub/shower and a full selection of toiletries: toothbrush, hand soap, a
20-ounce bottle of moisturizing lotion, 15-ounce bottles of shampoo and conditioner.
The bedroom has two windows, which pop open at the bottom, and a closet with sliding wood doors.
“There are a couple of different floor plans, so they’re not all cookie-cutter,” said Whitney Summers, a Catholic Community Services program manager.
Special wall switches in each unit can turn off all electricity except the fridge. The stove has weight-sensitive burners and dials that shut off the burners after 30 minutes to prevent fires.
Each floor has a laundry room and unisex bathrooms. The first floor hosts a communal kitchen and dining area, with four rectangular tables and chairs.
Five units are reserved for veterans, using veteran’s VASH vouchers passed through by the Everett Housing Authority, and 10 units for young adults ages 18-24.
Glass doors lead from the common area to an expansive back patio. Besides the flower beds, the outdoor space features apple, plum, and pear trees, and a fenced dog run.
An array of solar panels covers the roof of the building; the building itself is certified as energy efficient.
Clare’s Place tenants will be split almost evenly between men and women, said Alison Ahlgrim, Catholic Community Services housing program manager.
Most are from Everett, though there are some from Arlington, Monroe, and unincorporated county areas too.
They were chosen by a formula that aimed to identify the most chronic, vulnerable homeless persons in the county. Some battle drug addiction and mental illness. Many have been on the streets for more than 12 months.
“These are the people you see under the overpasses and camped out in parks,” Ahlgrim said.
To support them, Clare’s Place houses a medical clinic, and has Catholic Community Services case managers and social workers on-site. Housing staff will lead group activities such as cooking and exercise classes.
“We’ll keep the residents busy,” Ahlgrim said.
The site provides lifetime shelter, at the cost of one-third of a tenant’s income. If income rises to a certain level (80 percent of median income) a tenant will have to leave.
It’s a model called permanent supportive housing.
According to the 2017 Homeless Prevention & Response System Strategic Plan, the number of permanent supportive housing beds dedicated for use by chronically homeless individuals and families has increased by 21 percent in Snohomish County the past three years.
Clare’s Place expands this inventory by 4.5 percent.
“The effectiveness of permanent supportive housing in improving client health and housing stability has been well documented. Furthermore, this intervention has led to significant reductions in public costs incurred by health care services, emergency room visits, behavioral health services, incarceration, and interactions with law enforcement,” the strategic report states.
Clare’s Place still needs donations and volunteer helpers, Ahlgrim said. For more information, visit www.ccsww.org/get-help/housing/permanent-housing/claresplace/ or call Annette Rice at 425-374-6318.
