Residents urge council to preserve Hope and Wellness; city staff, council members to follow up

A string of public commenters at the Everett City Council meeting on Jan. 15 urged city leaders to preserve Hope and Wellness, a volunteer-run service hub for people experiencing homelessness, and to pursue exemptions or other solutions to keep the program in its current downtown location.

Speakers told council that Hope and Wellness provides food, clothing, counseling and housing navigation to people with no cost to taxpayers and that moving the program or enforcing zoning restrictions would harm the city’s most vulnerable. Austin Swetz, who identified himself as an Everett resident, called Hope and Wellness “a shining beacon” and said relocation would discriminate against unhoused and disabled people. “Hope and Wellness will not only provide you a place to rest, but we’ll help you find temporary or permanent housing…It does all this at no cost to the taxpayers,” Swetz said.

The comments followed earlier conversations about a zoning interpretation that limits clinics in the zone where Hope and Wellness operates. At the meeting the city attorney reviewed prior council work on clinic zoning and said the…