EDMONDS—Snohomish County’s first New Start Center opened Monday offering bridge housing to help people experiencing homelessness stabilize and connect with services that support long-term housing.
“Getting folks in shelter and getting them the support they need is absolutely critical, and that’s what we’re trying to do here,” Snohomish County Executive Dave Somers said. “The County looked at nearly 90 potential properties for the New Start Centers. We needed a welcoming place, which this certainly is, for people to call home for a time, knowing that the whole point is to get them support to lift them back onto their feet and into permanent housing.”
Dozens of guests attended an opening celebration Monday, June 29, that included tours of the renovated center. Speakers at the event discussed how the center will help change lives and fits into broader strategies for reducing homelessness.
“This place exists because of a partnership, people who said we believe that limited resources do not limit our compassion,” Edmonds Mayor Mike Rosen said. “It exists because organizations, elected officials, service providers, staff, advocates, the YWCA, and members of the community all chose partnership over division, chose to solve a problem together instead of simply talking about it. Communities aren’t measured by the buildings they build; they’re measured by the futures they help create inside these buildings.”
The Edmonds New Start Center located at 22127 Highway 99 is operated by YWCA Seattle | King | Snohomish. It provides time-limited housing with 24/7 on-site staffing and wraparound services, including life coaching, behavioral health support, employment assistance and connections to permanent housing.
“Our organization delivers a variety of services to reduce homelessness and housing instability in the region, from emergency housing to permanent affordable homes,” YWCA Seattle | King | Snohomish CEO Maria Chavez-Wilcox said. “We have the whole spectrum and, quite frankly, that’s absolutely key. People are at different points in their life. Sometimes you just need that bridge housing to get somebody moving, some people need temporary housing. It’s like a continuum to get them from one place to another to another. We don’t tell people where they should be or where they want to be; they need to tell us how they can be helped and where we can meet them.”
The facility occupies the former America’s Best Value Inn motel (55 units), which the county purchased in 2022 for $9.075 million. The acquisition was part of a plan to buy two hotels for bridge housing — including a Days Inn in Everett (74 units) for about $10.8 million — to quickly expand local shelter capacity. Funding for the purchases and renovations came from federal American Rescue Plan Act dollars and the county’s Affordable Housing and Behavioral Health funds, drawn from a dedicated portion of the local sales tax. The Edmonds project is coming in just under $17 million total, the county disclosed on Monday. Ongoing operations are supported with a mix of local and federal housing funds.
Bridge housing is time-limited housing with the intent of individuals stabilizing and moving to permanent housing. Wraparound services staff at the housing site will help each resident access the services they may need, whether that’s food, hygiene, employment services, mental health supports, medical supports, or substance use disorder treatment. Some services will be provided on site and other may be off site.
“It’s remarkable who the YWCA has gathered to help people that will be staying here: support services for health care, support services for addiction, support services for just making this next transition,” Snohomish County Councilmember Strom Peterson said. “I think it’s really important to remember that this is going to be a place of partnership but a place of transition, where people are on their way to repairing whatever the trauma is, whatever instance it was that put them in a bad space. They can walk into this incredibly renovated temporary home, but it will be a home and it will be a sense of community that so many people don’t have.”
The New Start Center is required to maintain a 95% occupancy rate. The YWCA is required to provide clean linens at least weekly, one hot and one cold meal per day, individual client plans with the goal of permanent housing within 90 days, and work with the County’s referral network.
Background on the New Start Centers
After approximately 2 hours of public testimony, the Snohomish County Council with a vote of 3-2 on August 22, 2022, moved forward with the agreement to purchase two hotels to significantly boost bridge housing with access to behavioral health services within the County. Councilmembers voting in the affirmative were Chair Megan Dunn, then-Vice Chair Jared Mead, and former Councilwoman Stephanie Wright.
It was discovered that both the Days Inn facility in Everett and the America’s Best Value Inn in Edmonds buildings were contaminated with methamphetamine residue from previous use—prior to closing the sale in late 2022. The County subsequently began negotiations with the sellers to account for the cleanup costs and meth decontamination was complete as of early 2024. The facilities were scheduled to open in late 2025 but were delayed further by final approvals and inspections.
After the buildings were discovered to be contaminated with methamphetamine residue, the total budget ballooned to $37.7 million as of May 2025—up from the original $20 million allocation.
The total (County + non-County) annual per unit cost as of January 2026 is estimated at $54,484 (or $4,540 per month) for the Everett New Start Center and $93,290 (or $7,774) for the Edmonds New Start Center—up from the original up from $1,590 (pre-operator estimate) per month per unit. Of that, $22,457 (or $1,871 per month per unit) for each unit per year for maintenance by Snohomish County Facilities, is funded through Affordable Housing and Behavioral Health (AHBH) dollars. The remainder of the annual per unit cost is the site operator piece, which includes AHBH as well as HOME Investment Partnerships American Rescue Plan Program (HOME-ARP) dollars.
The AHBH dollars are from the Snohomish County one-tenth of one-percent Affordable Housing and Behavioral Health sales tax. The HOME-ARP dollars are through HUD (HOME-ARP Program – HUD Exchange
The County Council unanimously approved on January 28, 2026, service agreements with the Salvation Army and YWCA for its two New Start Centers.
The YWCA will receive $1,884,294 in HOME ARP dollars for a period to conclude on December 31, 2026, to provide a program manager, life coaches, landlord engagement specialist, front desk employees, and a healthcare navigator. Additionally, their contract with the county includes $500,000 in meals and $250,000 in client flex funds, which would be used for clearing barriers for housing, legal evictions, healthcare bills, and so on.
The YWCA will also receive $2,122,669 for an operating and licensing agreement and funding for 4.75 FTE including portions of an Admin Analyst, Data Coordinator, Senior Director, Program Supervisor, Chief Program Officer, Maintenance Staff (custodian and on-call custodian). Also, $450,000 for professional services for security, pest control, fire safety, dollars set aside for insurance, utilities, repairs, administration and other miscellaneous costs were approved by the council in January.
Author: Mario Lotmore
