Quick answer: Housing Hope is Everett’s largest affordable-housing nonprofit. It manages more than 650 affordable rental units across 24 sites in Snohomish County and Camano Island, has helped 328 households become homeowners through its Team HomeBuilding sweat-equity program, and is breaking ground in 2026 on a new 26,700-square-foot Tomorrow’s Hope Child Development Center at 4526 Federal Avenue in partnership with Compass Health. The organization has a new CEO and is chasing a 1,000-unit goal by 2030.

Housing Hope: The Complete 2026 Guide to Everett’s Largest Affordable-Housing Nonprofit and the New Tomorrow’s Hope at 4526 Federal Avenue

Drive past 4526 Federal Avenue right now and you will see survey stakes, fresh fencing, and site-prep equipment on the northeast corner of the Compass Health campus. That is a 26,700-square-foot child development center under construction. It belongs to Housing Hope — and most Everett residents have never heard of the organization that is building it.

That is unusual. Housing Hope manages more than 650 affordable rental units across 24 sites in Snohomish County. It runs a sweat-equity homeownership program that has produced 328 first-time homeowners. It operates a child development center that has served Everett families for more than thirty years. It is the largest affordable-housing nonprofit in the city. And it is in the middle of its biggest year in a long time.

This is the complete 2026 guide to Housing Hope: what it does, where it operates, the new Tomorrow’s Hope project at 4526 Federal Avenue, the new CEO at the top, and the 1,000-unit goal driving the next four years.

What Housing Hope Actually Does

Housing Hope’s mission is to promote and provide affordable housing and tailored services that reduce homelessness and poverty across Snohomish County and Camano Island. In practice, the organization operates five integrated programs:

1. Affordable rental housing. More than 650 units across 24 sites. Rents are set on a sliding scale based on household income and family size — not market rate. The portfolio runs from single-room transitional units to family-sized apartments specifically designed for households exiting homelessness.

2. Team HomeBuilding. A sweat-equity homeownership program where working families help build their own and each other’s homes. The program has produced 328 first-time homeowner households. Participants commit hundreds of hours of construction labor in exchange for a deeply discounted mortgage on a home they helped frame, side, and finish.

3. Tomorrow’s Hope Child Development Center. Quality childcare for kids aged four weeks through twelve years, with a sliding-scale fee structure that prioritizes families currently living in Housing Hope properties or recently exited from homelessness. The current facility has operated for more than 30 years and is being replaced by a much larger purpose-built building at 4526 Federal Avenue.

4. Workforce and family services. Career counseling, financial coaching, and family stability supports embedded inside the housing portfolio. The integration is the point — residents do not have to leave the property to access services.

5. Development and acquisition. Housing Hope’s real estate development arm acquires sites, secures funding stacks (federal LIHTC, state Housing Trust Fund, county and city contributions), designs new housing, and operates the resulting buildings. The organization has been one of the most consistent affordable-housing developers in Snohomish County for thirty years.

The New Tomorrow’s Hope at 4526 Federal Avenue

The signature 2026 project is a new 26,700-square-foot Tomorrow’s Hope Child Development Center on the Compass Health campus at 4526 Federal Avenue. Several things matter about that project:

Capacity triples. The current Tomorrow’s Hope serves a fraction of the demand the program receives. The new building expands enrollment dramatically, with classroom space designed for kids from infancy through age twelve.

The Compass Health partnership is real. Compass is the dominant behavioral-health provider in Snohomish County. Co-locating childcare on the Compass Health campus puts behavioral-health services and childcare in the same place — which matters for families navigating both at once.

Funding is layered. Affordable-housing-and-services projects of this scale do not get built with one funding source. The financing typically combines state, county, and city contributions with private philanthropy and tax-credit equity. The fact that the project has reached site-prep means that capital stack is closed.

The 30-year handoff. The existing Tomorrow’s Hope facility has been operating for more than three decades. Replacing it with a purpose-built modern center is the kind of generational handoff few nonprofits successfully execute. Housing Hope is doing it.

The Leadership Change

Housing Hope has a new CEO: Kathryn Opina. Leadership transitions at long-running nonprofits are inflection points — they reset strategy, relationships with funders, and operational culture. For an organization the size of Housing Hope at the moment of an active capital project and a 1,000-unit growth target, the timing is significant. Local civic watchers should be paying attention to how the new CEO frames the next four years.

The 1,000-Unit Goal

Housing Hope is publicly chasing a 1,000-unit goal by 2030. From the current 650+ portfolio, that is roughly 350 additional units across the remaining four years. At Snohomish County construction costs, that is a multi-hundred-million-dollar development pipeline. The organizations that move that kind of pipeline through approvals, financing, and construction usually sit at the table when local housing policy is debated. Housing Hope sits at that table for Snohomish County.

Where Housing Hope Operates in Everett

The 24 sites are spread across Snohomish County and Camano Island, with concentrations in Everett’s lower-income neighborhoods, on Casino Road in South Everett, near downtown, and along the corridors where transit access supports car-light households. Specific properties include transitional housing for families exiting homelessness, permanent supportive housing, family workforce housing, and senior housing — Housing Hope’s portfolio is intentionally diverse so that residents can move within the system as their circumstances change without leaving the network of services.

Why Housing Hope Matters in 2026

Three pieces of context make Housing Hope particularly relevant this year:

Snohomish County’s housing-and-behavioral-health funding wave. The County Council recently approved $23 million for housing and behavioral health programs. Housing Hope is structurally positioned to absorb funding allocations from those streams.

Everett’s CDBG / HOME / AHTF priority-setting. The city’s Community Development Advisory Committee is holding a May 5 public hearing on 2027 federal housing fund priorities. Housing Hope is both a funder applicant and a major operator of the kind of housing those funds target.

The 51.8% inventory jump. Snohomish County’s housing inventory rose 51.8% in March 2026. That is a market-rate signal. The affordable-housing tier — which is what Housing Hope operates in — is structurally separate from market-rate inventory, and its tightness is not relieved by a market shift. The need does not move with the inventory chart.

How Everett Residents Can Engage

For a household needing housing or services: contact Housing Hope directly to inquire about waitlist availability, eligibility, and program intake. The organization serves residents of Snohomish County and Camano Island.

For a household wanting to support the work: Housing Hope accepts financial contributions, in-kind donations, and volunteer hours, particularly for the Team HomeBuilding sweat-equity program where construction-skilled volunteers can directly accelerate move-in dates for participating families.

For Everett residents wanting policy influence: the May 5 CDAC public hearing is one of the more direct levers for shaping how 2027 federal housing dollars get spent locally.

Frequently Asked Questions

What is Housing Hope and where is it based?

Housing Hope is an Everett-headquartered nonprofit that builds and operates affordable rental housing, supports homeownership through sweat-equity construction, and runs childcare and family services across Snohomish County and Camano Island.

How many units does Housing Hope manage?

More than 650 affordable rental units across 24 sites in Snohomish County and Camano Island, with a publicly stated goal of 1,000 units by 2030.

What is the new Tomorrow’s Hope at 4526 Federal Avenue?

A new 26,700-square-foot child development center under construction on the Compass Health campus at 4526 Federal Avenue in Everett. It replaces the current Tomorrow’s Hope facility and triples childcare capacity.

Who is the new CEO of Housing Hope?

Kathryn Opina is the new CEO of Housing Hope, leading the organization through its current capital expansion and the 1,000-unit growth target.

What is Team HomeBuilding?

Team HomeBuilding is Housing Hope’s sweat-equity homeownership program. Participating families commit hundreds of hours of construction labor on each other’s homes in exchange for a deeply discounted mortgage on a finished home they helped build. The program has produced 328 first-time homeowner households.

How does Housing Hope set rent?

Rent is set on a sliding scale based on household income and family size, not market rate. That is the structural distinction between affordable housing and market-rate housing.

How can Everett residents support Housing Hope?

Through financial contributions, in-kind donations, and volunteer hours, including direct construction labor on Team HomeBuilding projects. Residents seeking housing or services can contact Housing Hope directly to inquire about eligibility.

Is Housing Hope related to Compass Health?

Housing Hope and Compass Health are independent organizations. The new Tomorrow’s Hope facility is being built on Compass Health’s campus at 4526 Federal Avenue as a partnership project, co-locating childcare with behavioral-health services.

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