New Bed System Is First Fruit For Everett Gospel Mission

A few years ago the seeds of change were planted at the Everett Gospel Mission. The mission wanted to find better ways to serve their clients, beyond just shelter. Today the Everett Gospel Mission showed off the “First Fruits” of that planting. A revolutionary bed system that does away with a traditional bunk bed and provides program participants more privacy, dignity and functionality.

“Requiring someone who has suffered from homelessness to sleep in a traditional bunk bed is less than ideal,” said Sylvia Anderson, EGM’s CEO in an email to MyEverettNews.com.

“The trauma of homelessness severely impacts a person’s physical and emotional health. That damage makes a bunk bed a difficult proposition at best. The typical ladder, rails and openness of a bunk bed make the recovery process more difficult. We want to celebrate and dedicate this strategic change with our donors and the community.”

John Hull, EGM’s Director of Strategic Initiatives led the project to design and produce the Transformational Bed System. Hull explains. “In designing our new bed system, we began with the radical question: ‘What does a bed look like that will help our guests the most?’ We literally began to ask, ‘why can’t we do shelter differently.’ and that bold start began a 2-year journey of fact-finding, design and production. The beds installed in the EGM Men’s Genesis dorm represent the “First Fruits” of that process. We are confident that this bed system is just the beginning of new innovative initiatives to aid our community.”

Hull says they are looking at manufacturing and marketing this new system to other missions and housing programs nationwide. That would allow the Everett Gospel Mission to develop a new revenue stream as well as job and training opportunities for their clients.

The Everett Gospel Mission is the only full time year round emergency shelter for men in Snohomish county. On any given night the shelter averages 145 men seeking shelter. While the majority of those men are looking for short term help there are a number of men entered into the mission’s Genesis program. Each person in the residential program receives personalized care and is given access to nutritious meals, beds, clean clothing, spiritual support, addiction recovery, life-skills training, employment help and more.

The Everett Gospel Mission is moving forward with more plans to improve the areas where clients stay and they have toured other gospel missions across the country to learn what to do and not to do in order to help people recover from experiencing homelessness, poverty, hunger and addiction. EGM is partnering with Providence Regional Medical Center to provide respite care, with the Snohomish Health District bringing visiting nurses and with Everett Police and their COET team that brings together police officers and social workers to rapidly provide services to those ready to accept them.

Today Everett Gospel Mission is the largest faith-based organization for homeless men, women and children in Snohomish County. The only organization to provide year-round emergency shelter for single men, and the largest organization providing emergency shelter to single women. You can learn more about the Everett Gospel Mission here on their website.