Everett homeless resource Hope ‘N Wellness may have host space

EVERETT — It’s possible the resource center Hope ‘N Wellness will be granted use of a space at the Catholic Church north of downtown’s core. Relocating would ease City Hall’s pressure on it to move.
The center’s operator Jasmine Donahue said an agreement was being drafted with Our Lady of Hope Church to act as a host as of last week.
The idea would utilize Hensen Hall, the community space on the church grounds near 25th Street and Hoyt Avenue. Services would be one day a week.
Donahue said many of her clients already know the place. The church serves hot meals in the hall Mondays from 5 to 6 p.m. as part of its ministry outreach. The MercyWatch service group, which gives medical care and outreach to homeless individuals, also dispatches from Our Lady.
Late attempts to reach Our Lady’s priest The Rev. Joseph Altenhofen for this story were unsuccessful.
Donahue said a deacon at Our Lady initiated the offer. A deacon would be someone with certain official capacities in the church. Altenhofen had confirmed to the Herald that talks are happening.
Details were nowhere near finalized. Donahue said services would remain nondenominational.
Hope ‘N Wellness is a resource center that primarily serves people in homelessness. Open one day a week, it gives a place to relax, have coffee, and have a spot for people to meet with social services for help. It also gives its clients a place to store belongings while attending court hearings or other needs.
In the last weeks of 2023, the city issued orders on Hope ‘N Wellness to cease providing services from its ground-floor space on Rucker Avenue near Pacific Avenue because of zoning rules meant to uphold downtown’s look and feel. The city kicked forward its compliance deadline during 2024, and again this year. Most recently Hope ‘N Wellness was under a Feb. 28 deadline to cease or face civil penalties until a last-minute time extension to April 30a from the mayor’s office.
“We’re excited by the potential” of having a new place for services, Donahue said. It gets Hope ‘N Wellness out from under “the city’s microscope,” she said.
A city team continues to meet with Hope ‘N Wellness to try to find it a new home. One hitch is that its site downtown is offered to the organization at nearly no cost.
Hope ‘N Wellness is also leasing a satellite office near 41st Street and Rucker Avenue to offer some services. Donahue said more people have been coming to this site in central Everett, but it is a notably far walk from downtown where almost all other main services are located.