By Nancy Truitt Pierce
Housing Hope, a Snohomish County nonprofit, is undertaking the most ambitious project in their 27-year history right here in Monroe. Aptly called Monroe Family Village, it will boast 47 new apartments for East County families with low incomes. They will break ground on this development on West Main Street later this spring.
This is the ninth project Housing Hope has developed in the Sky Valley since 2004. They've already developed 88 units spread out between Snohomish and Sultan, including 16 units at Winters Creek in Sultan, 14 at Woods Creek Village in Monroe and 48 homes that local families have built with sweat equity.
We three (Chelea Kent, Jeff Rasmussen and I) are on the Advisory Board for this project and wanted you to know of this attractive new community development because it includes an opportunity to secure a "Naming RightGÇ¥ for your family or a loved one. We can't recall another time when there has been a naming opportunity on a Housing Hope project in Monroe and wanted to get the word out on it.
That means you could honor a family member or your entire family for years to come by putting their name on one of the apartments or the playground or the community room or the entire complex. With Mother's Day just around the corner, this would be an amazing gift for some deserving mother or grandmother.
Who do you know who has spent their life in service to children and families? Who would you like to honor for years to come? Most opportunities to honor the unselfish among us consist of an announcement at a banquet and a plaque that lasts for a night and then is hidden at home. This naming opportunity will be a chance to thank them in a way that will be on public display for decades to come right on West Main Street in Monroe.
Some of the naming levels are very affordable, too. You can name a large granite paver for $100 or a bench for $1,000. You can put a name on one of the apartments for just $10,000 or name the playground for $35,000. That might seem like a lot for an individual, but gifts can be spread out over a 3-year pledge.
Also, many times these gifts are the result of collaboration among family and friends to pool their gifts for someone they want to honor. It just takes one person with the passion to do something for their loved one to go out and collect donations from other family members, old work colleagues, companies and friends so they can offer a lasting legacy. It's even been used in memorial for a beloved family member who has passed on or to honor a company that has been a solid supporter of the community. There are lots of ways to accomplish the financial part of it and we would be glad to help you explore it if you are interested.
We also look forward to welcoming this new housing development to Monroe. This will be a wonderful addition to our town and region and will go a long way toward ensuring that our families with children in most desperate financial need will have a roof over their head and the services they need to grow in self-sufficiency. If a naming opportunity is outside your ability, please consider something smaller as a donation. We need to help Housing Hope build this important asset, and everything helps. You can learn more and donate at www.housinghope.org. Thank you for your support!
Chelea Kent is owner of Edward Jones in Monroe and serves on the MFV Advisory Board. Jeff Rasmussen is the Branch Manager of Washington Federal Bank and serves on the Monroe City Council. Nancy Truitt Pierce is CEO of Woods Creek Consulting and serves on the Monroe School Board.
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