It protects the physical foundation from which those services are delivered.
The purchase also came at a critical moment.
Sandra Mears, executive director of the Jean Kim Foundation, told NPR that she had been preparing for the possibility of closing and had even been told to plan a goodbye party. Instead, Steves' intervention meant there would be no farewell.
The center would stay.
The Community Added Hundreds of Thousands More
Steves' purchase was not the only financial support that emerged.
Community members contributed approximately another $400,000, according to NPR reporting, with the money intended to support renovations and expanded services.
That additional fundraising is important because purchasing a building is only the beginning of operating a community facility.
Buildings require maintenance.
Showers require plumbing.
Washers and dryers require electricity, water and repairs.
Meals require food and volunteers or staff.
Clothing programs require donations and organization.
And people seeking help may need connections to housing, health care, employment assistance or other services.
The new funding therefore gave the center an opportunity not merely to survive but to improve.
The Verdant Health Commission, which has been a major funder of the hygiene center since 2021, said it had invested $1 million in the center and celebrated the continuation of its services after Steves purchased the building.
Together, the purchase and additional donations created a much stronger foundation for the facility's future.
What the Hygiene Center Actually Provides
The phrase "hygiene center" can sound modest.
In practice, the Lynnwood facility provides a collection of services that can make an enormous difference in daily life.
People can shower.
They can obtain clothing.
They can access hygiene products.
They can eat.
They can use restroom facilities.
They can spend time in a place designed to serve people experiencing homelessness and housing insecurity.
And, through the organization operating the center, visitors can also connect with additional resources.
The scale of the work is larger than the building might suggest.
The Jean Kim Foundation told NPR that the center serves approximately 700 people and, with the additional funding, expected to provide more than 10,000 showers and approximately 16,000 hot meals each year.
Those numbers translate into thousands of individual moments that would otherwise be difficult for many people to manage.
A shower before a job interview.
Clean clothes before an appointment.
A hot meal after spending hours outside.
A place to wash clothing instead of carrying dirty belongings from one location to another.
A restroom.
A conversation.
A few hours away from bad weather.
None of these things necessarily solves homelessness by itself.
But each can make life a little more manageable while someone navigates the much larger challenges of finding stable housing and rebuilding their circumstances.
Cleanliness Is About More Than Appearance
There is another reason facilities like this matter.
Personal hygiene is closely connected to dignity.
When someone cannot regularly shower or wash clothing, the consequences can go beyond discomfort. It can affect how that person feels about themselves and how other people respond to them.
A clean shirt does not solve homelessness.
A shower does not create permanent housing.
But having access to those basic services can remove one more barrier from someone's day.
It can make it easier to attend an appointment, meet with a caseworker, look for employment or simply interact with other people without feeling that their circumstances are immediately visible.
The center also creates a place where people can gather.
That social component can be easy to overlook.
One guest, Sherman Gillins, told My Lynnwood News that the center had become a gathering and meeting place for him and that it helped him "stay human." He said he did not know how he would have survived without it.
His description illustrates why the value of the facility cannot be measured only by the number of showers or meals it provides.
There is also value in having somewhere people know they can go.