Rick Steves Spent $2.25 Million to Save a Hygiene Center — and Give Hundreds of People a Place to Shower, Eat and Feel Human

When people think of Rick Steves, they may picture cobblestone streets in Europe, small cafés in Paris, train journeys through Switzerland, or quiet villages far from the usual tourist crowds.

For decades, the travel writer and television host has made a career out of helping Americans explore Europe. Through his guidebooks, television programs, radio shows and tours, Steves has encouraged people to look beyond sightseeing and understand the communities they visit.

But in late 2025, one of his most consequential journeys had nothing to do with Europe.

It happened just a few miles from his home in Washington state.

And instead of buying a train ticket or researching another European destination, Steves spent $2.25 million to purchase a building that houses a small but essential community service center for people experiencing homelessness and housing insecurity.

The purchase helped prevent the Lynnwood Hygiene Center from closing.

The center provides something that can sound simple until you need it and cannot find it: a safe place to take a shower, wash clothes, get a hot meal, find clean clothing and connect with basic services.

For people without stable housing, those ordinary necessities can become surprisingly difficult to access.

When Steves learned that the center was in danger of disappearing, he decided that the building itself needed to be protected.

His intervention transformed what had been an uncertain future into a permanent home for the organization.

And the story offers a reminder that sometimes the most meaningful acts of generosity are not spectacular in appearance. Sometimes they involve something as basic as hot water, clean clothes, food and a place where a person can spend a few hours indoors.

A Community Center Was About to Disappear

The Lynnwood Hygiene Center, operated by the Jean Kim Foundation, has been serving people in the Lynnwood area since 2020.

The facility operates from a former Washington state auto emissions testing center. The Jean Kim Foundation had been using the property rent-free for several years, allowing the organization to provide services to people experiencing homelessness and housing insecurity.

The center became a practical resource for people who might otherwise have very few places to meet basic hygiene needs.

Visitors can access showers, restrooms, clothing, hygiene supplies and meals. The center has also connected people with other forms of assistance, including case management and community resources. The City of Lynnwood lists the hygiene center among local services providing showers, hygiene products, clothing and meals.

But the center's future depended heavily on the building where those services were being provided.

When plans emerged to sell the property, the Jean Kim Foundation faced the possibility of losing its location.

That meant the center could have been forced to close or search for another building capable of supporting showers, laundry and other services.

For an organization serving people with limited resources, finding another suitable location would not necessarily be simple.

The center's history helps explain why.

By December 2025, it had already provided more than 50,000 showers to people experiencing homelessness and housing insecurity since opening.

So this was not simply a building that happened to contain a nonprofit.

It was a place that hundreds of people had already incorporated into their lives.

Rick Steves Learned About the Center Almost by Accident

One of the striking details of the story is that Steves did not discover the hygiene center through a formal fundraising campaign or an organized philanthropic proposal.

He learned about its impending closure through local news coverage.

According to NPR, Steves was living nearby but had not previously known that the center existed. He also said he did not even understand what a "hygiene center" was until he read about it.

That changed quickly.

As he learned more about the organization, he realized that replacing the facility would be difficult.

The center was providing something that many people take for granted.

For someone with a permanent home, taking a shower is normally a routine part of the day. Washing a week's worth of clothing may require nothing more than opening a washing machine. Eating a hot meal can be as simple as preparing dinner in a kitchen.

For someone living without stable housing, each of those tasks can become a logistical problem.

Where do you shower?

Where do you wash your clothes?

Where can you find clean clothing?

Where can you get a meal?

Where can you sit somewhere indoors?

And perhaps just as importantly: where can you go without being treated as though your presence is a problem?

That combination of practical and human needs appears to have made an impression on Steves.

He remembered what it was like to travel as a young person and realize how valuable something as ordinary as a shower could be.

At a December 2025 event celebrating the center's future, Steves recalled needing a shower and a place to wash his clothes while backpacking when he was younger.

The comparison was simple, but meaningful.

Travelers can usually move on.

People without housing often cannot.

The Decision: Buy the Building

Steves ultimately purchased the property for $2.25 million.

Initially, the buyer was not publicly identified. Local reporting described the purchaser as an anonymous donor before the community learned that Steves was behind the purchase.

The purchase gave the Lynnwood Hygiene Center something it had never had before: security over the location where it operated.

Instead of having to leave because the property was being sold, the organization could remain in place.

That distinction matters.

A donation to pay for meals or supplies can help an organization operate for a period of time. Buying the building addresses a different problem.