Rick Steves, an American travel writer and PBS host of Rick Steves’ Europe, purchased a Lynnwood Hygiene Centre for $2.25 million. The Lynnwood Hygiene Center provides facilities such as showers, laundry, heated spaces, hot meals, and even a twice-monthly pop-up medical clinic for people struggling to make ends meet. But the center faced a serious problem: the landowner planned to sell the property it sat on.
As the centre’s no-cost, no-commitment lease was running out, Sandra Mears, executive director of Lynnwood Hygiene Center, reached out to local Pacific Northwest donors, nonprofits, and philanthropists, hoping someone could help fund a land purchase or help her find an alternative location. But all she got was a “no.”
Until one morning, everything changed. Mears received an email from someone named Rick Steves – a name she’d never heard before. This stranger told her he had bought the land where her center operated. Just like that, the Lynnwood Hygiene Center was saved.
How It All Started
Ironically, the center was only two blocks from Steve’s own church, yet he never knew it existed. He first learned about it through a story on the My Edmonds News. The article explained how the facility went far beyond basic hygiene services to offer comprehensive support for people in need.
The story resonated deeply with Steves. “I vividly remember what it’s like as a kid backpacking around the world to need a shower,” he said at an event last week announcing the purchase. “This is a place that gives countless people that are down and out a shower.”
Having reached what he describes as “a point of diminishing returns in consuming for his own pleasure,” Steves contacted the landowner through My Edmonds News. He quickly made an offer of $2.25 million, which was just as promptly accepted.
More Good News
Instead of hosting a goodbye party, Mears was able to organize a “joyful” celebration with Steves as the keynote speaker. At the event, he delivered even more good news: a private donor had contributed another quarter-million dollars for expansion and renovation work. The funds will add more showers and create a community area where residents can socialize.
“This center was going to shut down. It would be vacated right now. It would be empty for this Christmas,” Steve’s told the Washington Post.
A Traveler’s Lesson
For Steves, the experience reinforced something he learned from decades of traveling the globe and meeting people from all walks of life.
“Love thy neighbor has nothing to do with proximity, that’s a lesson I’ve learned as a traveler,” he explained.
