Work on shelter finally begins

EVERETT — The walls were bare, the dreams big.

Snohomish County leaders packed the rooms of a former military site in north Everett on Tuesday morning to celebrate a ground-breaking for a new domestic violence shelter planned there.

The event marked more than six years of work by Domestic Violence Services and community partners to secure the site, officials said. They plan to renovate existing buildings to house the shelter and staff.

The federal government designated the three-acre, $4 million property surplus in 2012.

Speakers on Tuesday included U.S. Rep. Rick Larsen, D-Everett, and Everett Mayor Ray Stephanson.

Domestic violence is the biggest cause of homelessness in the community, Stephanson said.

“I know all of us wish that we didn’t need facilities like this,” he said. “We must face reality and the reality is we need more protection for women and children who are victims of domestic violence.”

Snohomish County councilmembers, Sheriff John Lovick, Marysville Mayor Jon Nehring and Everett Police Chief Kathy Atwood also attended, as well as Snohomish County Prosecuting Attorney Mark Roe and numerous other civic leaders.

DVS Executive Director Vicci Hilty spoke briefly, thanking people who have worked on the project.

“It’s not a building, baby, it’s a heart,” she said.

After the speeches, people posed for pictures holding shovels at the site. Others took tours.

In the halls before the event, DVS board members greeted each other with hugs and smiles.

Two of them, Pete Grodt and Bernie Terry, co-chaired the campaign to raise money for the project.

Grodt saw the legal notice in the newspaper announcing that the property was declared surplus, he said. The move will save DVS roughly $48,000 a year in rent.

Having everything in one place also will save time and money, Terry said.

The old shelter has 15 beds, Grodt said. The new one will have 52.

“Isn’t it great, Bernie?” he asked.

“I have my pockets full of Kleenex,” she said.

The city helped secure grant dollars for the project as well, Stephanson said. He also thanked Larsen for help in securing the site.

On Tuesday, there was plenty of work left to do at the property. Black wire cages full of old office chairs lined one end of a gymnasium. Signs printed on office paper marked planned locations for services, including a teen area.

Rikki King: 425-339-3449; rking@heraldnet.com.

Note: To protect victims from abusers, Domestic Violence Services asks that exact locations of the current and proposed shelter not be disclosed.

Talk to us

> Give us your news tips.

> Send us a letter to the editor.

> More Herald contact information.

More in Local News

A firefighter stands in silence before a panel bearing the names of L. John Regelbrugge and Kris Regelbrugge during the ten-year remembrance of the Oso landslide on Friday, March 22, 2024, at the Oso Landslide Memorial in Oso, Washington. (Ryan Berry / The Herald)
‘Flood of emotions’ as Oso Landslide Memorial opens on 10th anniversary

Friends, family and first responders held a moment of silence at 10:37 a.m. at the new 2-acre memorial off Highway 530.

Julie Petersen poses for a photo with images of her sister Christina Jefferds and Jefferds’ grand daughter Sanoah Violet Huestis next to a memorial for Sanoah at her home on March 20, 2024 in Arlington, Washington. Peterson wears her sister’s favorite color and one of her bangles. (Annie Barker / The Herald)
‘It just all came down’: An oral history of the Oso mudslide

Ten years later, The Daily Herald spoke with dozens of people — first responders, family, survivors — touched by the deadliest slide in U.S. history.

Victims of the Oso mudslide on March 22, 2014. (Courtesy photos)
Remembering the 43 lives lost in the Oso mudslide

The slide wiped out a neighborhood along Highway 530 in 2014. “Even though you feel like you’re alone in your grief, you’re really not.”

Director Lucia Schmit, right, and Deputy Director Dara Salmon inside the Snohomish County Department of Emergency Management on Friday, March 8, 2024, in Everett, Washington. (Ryan Berry / The Herald)
How Oso slide changed local emergency response ‘on virtually every level’

“In a decade, we have just really, really advanced,” through hard-earned lessons applied to the pandemic, floods and opioids.

Ron and Gail Thompson at their home on Monday, March 4, 2024 in Oso, Washington. (Olivia Vanni / The Herald)
In shadow of scarred Oso hillside, mudslide’s wounds still feel fresh

Locals reflected on living with grief and finding meaning in the wake of a catastrophe “nothing like you can ever imagine” in 2014.

Rep. Suzan DelBene, left, introduces Xichitl Torres Small, center, Undersecretary for Rural Development with the U.S. Department of Agriculture during a talk at Thomas Family Farms on Monday, April 3, 2023, in Snohomish, Washington. (Olivia Vanni / The Herald)
Under new federal program, Washingtonians can file taxes for free

At a press conference Wednesday, U.S. Rep. Suzan DelBene called the Direct File program safe, easy and secure.

Former Snohomish County sheriff’s deputy Jeremie Zeller appears in court for sentencing on multiple counts of misdemeanor theft Wednesday, March 27, 2024, at Snohomish County Superior Court in Everett, Washington. (Ryan Berry / The Herald)
Ex-sheriff’s deputy sentenced to 1 week of jail time for hardware theft

Jeremie Zeller, 47, stole merchandise from Home Depot in south Everett, where he worked overtime as a security guard.

Everett
11 months later, Lake Stevens man charged in fatal Casino Road shooting

Malik Fulson is accused of shooting Joseph Haderlie to death in the parking lot at the Crystal Springs Apartments last April.

T.J. Peters testifies during the murder trial of Alan Dean at the Snohomish County Courthouse on Tuesday, March 26, 2024 in Everett, Washington. (Olivia Vanni / The Herald)
Bothell cold case trial now in jury’s hands

In court this week, the ex-boyfriend of Melissa Lee denied any role in her death. The defendant, Alan Dean, didn’t testify.

A speed camera facing west along 220th Street Southwest on Tuesday, Nov. 21, 2023 in Edmonds, Washington. (Olivia Vanni / The Herald)
New Washington law will allow traffic cams on more city, county roads

The move, led by a Snohomish County Democrat, comes as roadway deaths in the state have hit historic highs.

Mrs. Hildenbrand runs through a spelling exercise with her first grade class on the classroom’s Boxlight interactive display board funded by a pervious tech levy on Tuesday, March 19, 2024 in Marysville, Washington. (Olivia Vanni / The Herald)
Lakewood School District’s new levy pitch: This time, it won’t raise taxes

After two levies failed, the district went back to the drawing board, with one levy that would increase taxes and another that would not.

Alex Hanson looks over sections of the Herald and sets the ink on Wednesday, March 30, 2022 in Everett, Washington. (Olivia Vanni / The Herald)
Black Press, publisher of Everett’s Daily Herald, is sold

The new owners include two Canadian private investment firms and a media company based in the southern United States.

Support local journalism

If you value local news, make a gift now to support the trusted journalism you get in The Daily Herald. Donations processed in this system are not tax deductible.