Housing Hope

5830 Evergreen Way, Everett WA 98203 425-347-6556

	Some Quick Facts Based in Everett, Washington, serving residents of Snohomish County and Camano Island, just north of the Seattle/King County area. Housing Hope is not just another shelter... using a continuum model, we provide a combination of emergency and transitional housing, permanent rental, and self-help home ownership along with a variety of social services to help families become independent and self-sufficient. Founded in 1987, Housing Hope today has completed more than 24 housing development projects, and currently operates twelve facilities serving the area.  Nineteen self-help housing groups have constructed over 150 homes and are now home owners. An additional 16 houses are at various stages of construction. Housing Hope operates more than 75 temporary housing units at twelve sites throughout Snohomish County, providing over 50,000 bed-nights of shelter to more than 1000 homeless families per year. Housing Hope provides an estimated 9,000 days of childcare to homeless children annually.
	What's So Special About Housing Hope? 1. Housing Hope is a local agency serving local people. Headquartered in Everett, WA, a coalition of concerned local citizens founded Housing Hope to provide housing and related services for local homeless families. With the exception of some grant and government funds, support for the agency comes from local individuals, corporations, businesses, service clubs, organizations, and churches. 2. Housing Hope recognizes the needs of families Families often delay in seeking help because they don't want to be separated. Unlike most traditional shelter programs, Housing Hope allows homeless families to stay together. There is no need for the mother and children to go to a women's shelter while the father goes to the men's mission. While several programs exist for mothers with young children, only Housing Hope provides housing for two-parent families and for single fathers with their children. Many shelter programs do not allow teen boys. Housing Hope encourages the family to remain together. Many families can graduate from temporary emergency shelter (30 days) to transitional housing which allows them up to 24 months to put their lives back together. This gives them time to focus on finding employment, learning household management and budgeting skills, getting counseling, addressing medical needs, and improving family interaction instead of worrying about which shelter will accept them when their time at the current one expires. 3. Housing Hope fosters responsibility Families in transitional housing pay rent according to their income. Although they may need to access emergency assistance, they are expected to pay their bills, follow agency rules, and to be good tenants and good neighbors. 4. Housing Hope helps strengthen families The downward spiral from independence to homelessness can traumatize the entire family. Keeping family members together at this critical time greatly increases the likelihood that the family will work through their problems more quickly and remain intact. The child care program offers a safe, nurturing environment for children while their parents attend school, seek employment, or address person or medical problems that may have contributed to the family's homeless situation. 5. Housing Hope offers a hand UP, not a handout! Through guidance and counseling, Housing Hope helps families recognize the series of circumstances that led them to become homeless. The process allows families to discover the strengths within themselves that will lead them back to self-sufficiency and a greatly reduced chance of again becoming homeless. 6. Housing Hope collaborates with other community resources Rather than provide all the services our clients might need, Housing Hope works with other agencies to avoid duplication of services and to assure that donated community dollars stretch as far as possible among all the programs offering assistance. 7. Housing Hope improves the quality of life in Snohomish County As Housing Hope clients move back into the community as independent and self-sufficient citizens, they contribute to the economy and tax base of the county. Helping families escape the nomadic and non-productive lifestyle of the homeless helps them give back to the community which, in turn, improves quality of life for all its citizens.