EVERETT, Wash. — The "dream" of Faith Family Village (FFV) started about six years ago,
It took about three years for Faith Family Village to officially open in Everett.
Because of a collaborative effort among Faith Lutheran Church, Faith Food Bank, the City of Everett, Snohomish County, and Pallet Shelter, the dream is a reality.
The village was completed in late 2023 with its first families moving into their units in January of 2024.
While Pallet Shelter communities have been established all across the country and in more than a dozen Western Washington cities - the FFV team said this is the first one to allow families to stay together. This includes moms, dads, and their children.
Snohomish County is currently finishing its annual Point-in-Time (PIT) count which provides a snapshot of homelessness in the county on a single night in January of each year. The results will be released in the coming weeks.
Last year's count included an estimated 1,285 people experiencing homelessness. Among them were 105 households with adults and children.
More than half were unsheltered – living outdoors or in a vehicle - while others were in transitional housing or emergency shelter settings.
"The first day a family moved in, I cried. It was just so overwhelming and joyous occasion to see," said Roxana Boroujerdi, who founded Faith Food Bank 15 years ago.
Boroujerdi said FFV was a crucial addition to the city of Everett and its surrounding communities because there was not yet a place where whole families could stay together in shelter settings.
"Studies have shown that kids who experience homelessness for two years in their life are more likely to become homeless adults," Boroujerdi said. "So that means this is a way to break the cycle of homelessness."
FFV has eight pallets for families. The program is designed to have families stay for 90 days while the intake team helps them make a plan to get into permanent housing.
“The first intake is to find out what got you to be homeless to begin with and how can we take away those barriers that caused the homelessness to begin with," said Jim Dean, the executive director of Interfaith Family Shelter.
FFV is set up to house about 32 families a year which equates to a little more than 100 adults and children.
Dean said the program costs about $200,000 to run annually and the team has enough funding secure for two years of operations. Work to secure more funding is a continuous effort through donations from individuals and community partners and federal funds.
This model, according to Dean, is far more sustainable and affordable than other program models designed to help those who are unhoused. Dean said some operations can cost a million dollars annually.
While the goal is to get families out of situations where they're living in outdoor spaces or vehicles and into shelters like FFV - Dean said the mission goes beyond that.
"We are not just in a shelter business, we are in a housing business because it's about getting people from homelessness into housing," Dean said.
KING 5 spoke to a father who just moved into FFV.
Barry Labin said he was living in his car before he and his children moved into FFV.
Labin and his family have access to their unit and two other units that have bathrooms, a community kitchen with appliances, food, a play area, and a community garden.
Each unit costs about $4 or $5 to run monthly, according to Dean with utilities including heating and air conditioning.
"I’ve been sleeping in my car and back and forth with my kids and my family," Labin said. "I would like to get a new apartment. [Faith Family Village] is better here but I need more."
The "more" for Labin is for his family and their future.
After 90 days at FFV - Dean said that is the goal.
"What's even greater is watching them walk out with a key to an apartment after 90 days and be able to move in and have a place that is theirs and watch them be successful over the next several years," Dean said.
Even in its first few weeks of operating with families - the team has been alerted by communities outside of Washington that want to bring the family shelter model to their cities.
Faith Food Bank founder Roxana Boroujerdi said she is heading to both Alaska and Texas to work with communities.
Part of making FFV successful is to establish structure for its families.
"We're trying to get families back into a routine and maybe they haven't had a routine in a year or two," Boroujerdi said. "[We make sure the kids go to school every day, the families have chores that they do every day."
A family specialist will work with parents on whatever obstacles they might have to overcome. Boroujerdi said that could include getting a driver's license or social security card to pave the way for leasing a place of their own when they leave FFV.
To donate to the FFV effort, click here.
To view and fill out the shelter intake form, click here.
If you or a family you know needs to apply for emergency shelter at FFV - call and leave a message on the intake line and someone will call you. That number is (425) 200-5121.