After 25 Years, Fred Safstrom Announces Retirement From Housing Hope

After 25 years total and the last seven as CEO Fred Safstrom has announced plans to step away from Housing Hope and pursue retirement. Here’s more from Housing Hope.

Fred Safstrom worked in both private and public entities for nearly twenty years and was looking for his next opportunity when Housing Hope came knocking. He had just completed nine years on their Board of Directors and knew that the mission was important to him and the community. This seemed to be a great fit. And now after 25 years of combined Board and Staff service, he has announced his plans to retire from employment. Fred and the agency have grown and accomplished significant progress towards helping community members in need find housing and the wrap around services that are so critical to their self-efficacy.

Under Fred’s leadership and in concert with a variety of partners and funders, some of Housing Hope’s recent significant accomplishments include:
• Establishing Tomorrow’s Hope Child Development Center as one of only three centers in the State of WA with a Behavioral Health License
• Opening HopeWorks Station North, a LEED Platinum Certified, net-zero energy job training hub and residential community
• Reaching the 30th anniversary of operating the Team HomeBuilding sweat-equity homeownership program
• The completion of Twin Lakes Landing II (early 2023), Housing Hope’s first development constructed using Passive House design principles, underscoring their strongly held value of ecological sustainability
• The surge forward toward the decade-long strategic objective of the Board to extend their supportive housing program into South Snohomish County, beginning with the development adjacent to Edmonds Lutheran Church in 2023
• The adoption of an ambitious Vision 2030 strategic plan that will guide Housing Hope and HopeWorks in serving our community in the years ahead

Longtime friend and former agency executive, Ed Petersen summed up Fred’s work by saying “It’s been inspiring to watch Fred serve as CEO during the past 7 years as he has led Housing Hope and HopeWorks to continuing growth and impactful housing and workforce solutions for our community. His local roots and relationships, together with astute management and compassionate leadership, has resulted in an agency commitment to diversity, equity, inclusion and environmental sustainability alongside housing and workforce programs. We applaud Fred for this comprehensive model that leaves a great foundation for the 2030 vision and strategic plan he helped the Board adopt.”

Executive Board Chair, Tom Berquist stated “On behalf of the board, I thank Fred for his exceptional leadership over the past 7 years as CEO of Housing Hope and
HopeWorks. His innovative approach to his work has made a significant, lasting, and positive impact in our community.”

Gifts in honor of Fred’s leadership legacy will go to the building fund for a new Tomorrow’s Hope Child Development Center at Donate | Housing Hope