LYNNWOOD—Philanthropist Rick Steves hailed the opening of the Lynnwood Neighborhood Center on Friday, Jan. 9, as the realization of a 30-year dream, a community hub nicknamed the “piazza” that will foster connection and provide vital services to vulnerable residents.
Speaking at the Lynnwood Neighborhood Center ribbon-cutting ceremony, Steves described the 40,000-square-foot facility as a living organism that will “breathe life” through people “coming, people going, people needing, sharing, learning, helping, laughing, playing.” He called the center, inspired by Italy’s vibrant public squares, a direct response to loneliness: “Rather than a crisis of loneliness, under this roof, we’re going to have community.”
The two-story building, which includes an adjacent park and play field, and indoor a basketball court, will offer a community kitchen, early learning programs, expanded Boys and Girls Club services, adult daycare for people with intellectual disabilities, and flexible meeting spaces. A central 27-foot-tall atrium with exposed cross-laminated timber beams, a café, and welcome desk forms the heart of the LEED Gold-certified structure.
Steves rooted the project in personal experience and faith.
Recalling his mother’s battle with Alzheimer’s and his father’s dementia, he spoke of the joy his father found in a senior choir.
“His eye caught mine,” Steves said. “And I saw his eye just twinkle. … I’ve just been really into intergenerational twinkle. And I think that is an integral part of the Lynnwood Neighborhood Center. We’re going to make those twinkles happen.”
He tied the center’s mission to broader Christian values, declaring, “We are all children of God, equally precious, equally worthy of dignity and love.” Steves added that “love thy neighbor” transcends proximity: “It has nothing to do with proximity. It has everything to do with community.”
Steves traced the genealogy of the project to land he purchased in the 1990s and later donated to Trinity Lutheran Church, which partnered with Volunteers of America Western Washington. Together they raised $26 million from government, foundations, faith groups, nonprofits, businesses, and individuals to turn a “Christian vision” and “stewardship dreams” into reality.
“Son, you got to find a need and fill it”—a quote by his father, Steves shared, was a guiding principle for his relentless commitment for the Lynnwood Neighborhood Center. The facility, he said, is flexible enough to meet unpredictable future needs and a place where “prayers get answered.”
“This hub of human services is how prayers get answered,” Steves said. “This is how a community thrives. This is how a community twinkles.”
In honor of Rick Steves work on the Lynnwood Neighborhood Center, his acquisition of a nearby apartment complex reworked to be low-barrier, low-income, housing, and his acquisition of the Lynnwood Hygiene Center, Snohomish County Deputy Executive Kent Patton, speaking on behalf of Executive Dave Somers, read a proclamation recognizing January 9, 2026, as “Rick Steves Day.”
Author: Mario Lotmore
