South County

Why Is Housing Hope Building in South Snohomish County?

Housing Hope was founded in 1987 to address the growing problem of family homelessness in Snohomish County. Our vision was to provide affordable housing and social services for families in need throughout the County. First, we focused on Everett. We then expanded to North County and next to East County. Now in our fourth decade of operation, we are finally turning our attention to South County.

Right now, there is only one shelter in South Snohomish County, which only has capacity for 17 women and children. Families wait between two and four months to access this facility. Housing Hope is eager to provide permanent, supportive, affordable housing to help South County families experiencing homelessness get back on their feet. We are committed to being a good neighbor and building safe, sustainable housing that will serve the community for decades to come.

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Madrona Highlands

Madrona

Madrona Highlands opened October 2024! Built in partnership with Edmonds Lutheran Church, Madrona Highlands provides 52 new units of affordable housing. Located in Edmonds, this is Housing Hope's first ever development in South Snohomish County. Learn more about Madrona Highlands in the articles below.

South County Development FAQ

Will there be staff on site?

Yes! There will be offices on site for Family Support Coaches and Property Management professionals. There will be at least one staff member on site during business hours.

What support will families have?

Housing Hope provides comprehensive wraparound services to help families succeed. Family Support Coaches work with parents to determine the root causes that led to their homelessness and develop action plans to accomplish their own unique goals. Education and Employment Specialists work with parents on basic and post-secondary education, job training, and securing career pathway employment. Child and Family Specialists also help build parenting skills and help children recover from the trauma of homelessness and poverty.

Will drug use be allowed on site?

Housing Hope does not allow illegal activity to take place at any of our housing sites. Many families come to Housing Hope with a history of substance use and we know that stable housing is the foundation these families need to continue their recovery. Housing Hope works with these families to access additional resources and partners closely with other local non-profits who specialize in chemical dependency and substance use recovery. We have an excellent partnership with local police departments and do everything we can to address any disruptive or illegal actions taking place at our developments.

How can I support the families who will live here?

Thank you! Support from the community is so helpful for our families as they get back on their feet. To volunteer your time, please email volunteer@housinghope.org. Or click here to contribute financially to building this development or providing supportive services.

How long can families live here?

These developments will be “Permanent Supportive Housing,” meaning that there is no formal limit on the time families can stay in the program. However, Housing Hope’s supportive services program is designed to help families stabilize and move on to other housing opportunities. The average length of stay in our housing program is two and a half years, and we would expect the families at this development to stay for approximately that length of time.

What will be the quality of the physical buildings?

Housing Hope designs beautiful, functional housing sites that fit in well with the surrounding neighborhood and that our residents are proud to call home. We also focus on environmental sustainability and provide the most energy-efficient environment possible.

What size is this development?

The Madrona Highlands development will provide housing for 52 families in three stories.

Who will live there?

All 52 units will serve families with children. Half of the units will be dedicated to families coming directly from homelessness. The remaining half will be for families with low income who earn less than 50% of Area Median Income.

Madrona Highlands Development FAQ

Scriber Place Development FAQ

What is Scriber Place, and how did it come about?

Who will live there?

At project completion, 26 units within the Scriber Place project will be affordable to households at or below 30% of area median income (AMI), and the remaining 26 units will be affordable to households at or below 50% of AMI, with six (6) of these units dedicated to serving households with histories of substance abuse.

All 52 units are intended to serve families with children enrolled in either Edmonds School District schools or neighboring districts meeting the U.S. Department of Education/McKinney-Vento Homeless Assistance Act’s definition of homelessness. This groundbreaking partnership will allow Housing Hope to serve “couch surfing” or “doubled-up” families for the first time.

What do “couch surfing” and “doubled-up” mean and why are these terms important?

Families who are couch surfing or doubled-up stay with another family or friend out of economic necessity. Often these situations are overcrowded or unsafe, and parents will frequently split their children between different households to avoid sleeping on the street or in their car. Since these children and their families are technically “sheltered,” they are not eligible for homeless housing funded by HUD.

Unstable housing has significant adverse effects on student academic performance. A study by Schoolhouse Washington found that students who are doubled up or in motels/hotels have nearly identical academic outcomes to their unsheltered peers, which are well below that of their housed classmates. In recognition of this crisis, the Washington State Legislature acted in 2018 to authorize school districts to lease surplus land to build affordable housing for students experiencing homelessness.

Because the School District retains ownership of the land and serving students experiencing homelessness is a condition of the lease, the project will serve Mckinney-Vento homeless families in the Edmonds School District and other Mckinney-Vento families in neighboring school districts. This allows these families to access permanent, affordable housing through this project. Housing Hope and Edmonds School District are breaking new ground to serve these families.

To the best of our knowledge, we are the first community in the state to attempt to build affordable housing for homeless students on surplus school district property. Once this model is proven successful, it can be replicated in other communities as an innovative solution to solving student homelessness.

How will families be selected to live there, and who makes those decisions?

All students must meet the federal McKinney-Vento Act eligibility criteria, defined as “lacking a fixed, regular, and adequate nighttime residence." Once that requirement is established, priority will be given to students enrolled in the Edmonds School District and in attendance for at least two years. The second priority is for households within the district boundaries attending public schools in other districts; the third priority will be for households meeting low-income and other requirements to which the project is subject. The Edmonds School District will lead a process to define the selection policies and procedures further in the months ahead. The housing community is projected to open in the summer of 2025, so there is much time to create these systems.

What happens if a family’s children all graduate? Will families be allowed to stay even if they have no children enrolled in school?

Under the “Permanent Supportive Housing” program mentioned above, Housing Hope cannot force a family to move out of housing just because their children graduate. However, Housing Hope will work with families to transition out of our program so that other families can be served.

What are some of the details about the buildings?

The project details that have been submitted to the City of Lynnwood include:

One two‐story (mixed‐use Building A) and three three‐story (Buildings B, C & D) multifamily buildings with 52 low‐income apartments, supportive services, and amenity spaces totaling +/‐ 56,588 gross SF building space.
Residences will include nine one‐bedroom, 25 two‐bedroom, 12 three‐bedroom, six four‐bedroom units, and central laundry.
Non‐residential space includes a community room with a residential‐grade kitchen, two multipurpose rooms, a study, staff offices, meeting space, health consultation space, and storage comprised of a community pantry and maintenance storage.

Buildings are configured around the resident picnic, play plaza, and central parking area.
Other features: ample parking spaces per city code along with an enclosed trash area, raised garden planters, play equipment, and overall fencing with landscaping.
The project is designed to meet Evergreen Sustainable Development Standard (ESDS) version 4.0 program.