‘Safe gathering place’: Recovery Cafe shows off its new digs

In a transformed location, Wendy Grove welcomed well-wishers to the Everett Recovery Cafe on Wednesday for a “little celebration that feels great in our hearts.”

The opening of the new Recovery Cafe location, the renovated lower level of the old Everett Public Market building, was a testament to the nonprofit’s mission. And that’s supposed to bring about a more important transformation – healing the lives of people affected by substance abuse, mental illness, and homelessness.

Grove is the founder and CEO of Everett Recovery Cafe, which opened in a vintage Broadway home in 2015. After the cafe lost its lease in 2018, it temporarily moved to the United Church of Christ by Everett. In partnership with the Everett Gospel Mission, the church now houses a 24-hour animal shelter.

Modeled after the original Recovery Cafe in Seattle, the Everett Recovery Cafe is a free day center for members. Along with camaraderie and hearty lunches served Tuesday through Saturday, it provides support and resources. Members are asked to take part in weekly recreation circles, to participate around the clock free of drugs and alcohol, and to help with tasks such as washing dishes or wiping.

“This is the safe hangout the community needs,” said Everett Mayor Cassie Franklin, who was among the invited guests. Others included US Representative Rick Larsen, Snohomish County Treasurer Brian Sullivan, April Berg MP, and Snohomish County NAACP President Janice Greene.

The once dark and dingy room at 1212 California St., which once housed several bars, is now light and airy. West windows bring in natural light and offer views of Port Gardner. A meeting room is equipped with art supplies. A modern commercial kitchen is equipped for café members.

Larsen, who visited the Broadway location in 2015, also stopped by for renovations last year. Several nightspots had been in the room over the years – Everett Underground, Twisted, and Bar Myx. The project “seemed very ambitious,” said Larsen. “That’s great to see.”

While the pandemic “puts us all back,” Larsen said, there is more understanding today than in the past of what it takes to overcome addiction. “There are tools,” he said, from law enforcement social workers to medically assisted treatments. “The recovery café is part of the toolbox.”

The beauty reflected in the clean white and light gray space is part of the cafe’s philosophy, Grove said.

“People come in with the burden of failure and shame. When they come through these doors, we want to convey that they are valued. It’s important to what we do, ”said Grove. “Our job is to help people heal and grow while it lasts.”

The pandemic added to the café’s challenges, but didn’t stop it from holding online meetings or handing out burlap. It has been open in its new home since March and works one-to-one with people with the help of around 30 rescue trainers.

In 2018, the Recovery Cafe signed a five-year contract for its 1915 portion of the building. It was a paint stall for the Boeing B-29 during World War II. Today the Sno-Isle Food Co-Op is located on Grand Avenue.

Chandler Williamson, vice president of the cafe board of directors, said Wednesday’s event was intended as “a thank you and to get the word out.”

The nonprofit has been supported through grants, private donations, companies, and organizations including Molina Healthcare and the Rotary Club of Everett, which awarded a multi-year grant for local impact. Past sponsors include Sno-Isle Food Co-Op, the Coastal Community Bank, and Ideal Option.

Ed Petersen, Founder of Housing Hope and a member of Everett Rotary, first encountered the Recovery Cafe in 2014 when he was part of the Everett Community Streets Initiative task force. The café, which had not yet opened, was looking for support. After all that has been done since then, the cafe has shown how the support it has received has been used. “People want to make a difference,” he said.

Grove said there are now about 150 members. “We have more to do with the horrific, heartbreaking deaths from overdose,” she said.

She credited Scott Benham, operations manager at Grandview Inc., an Arlington-based housing company, with helping to complete the project. It took “in kind, lawmakers, sweat, ingenuity and foresight,” Grove said.

“This has been a big endeavor,” said Benham, adding that Mike Grove, Wendy’s husband, was there to help “day in and day out”.

“Addiction, mental illness and homelessness affect us all,” said Benham. “It’s good for all of us.”

Julie Muhlstein: [email protected]

Learn more

More information: www.everettrecoverycafe.org

Tours of the Everett Recovery Cafe, 1212 California St., will be available on May 11th and 25th at 5:00 pm. To reserve a spot by the Friday before the date, email [email protected]

gallery

Wendy Grove (center), Founder and General Manager of Recovery Cafe in Everett, speaks during the opening in Everett on Wednesday. (Olivia Vanni / The Herald)

Ed Petersen writes supportive words on a banner in a new art and meeting room at the opening of the Everett Recovery Cafe on Wednesday. (Olivia Vanni / The Herald)

During the opening on Wednesday, people are exploring the new Everett Recovery Cafe. (Olivia Vanni / The Herald)

Recovery process information will be posted in the new Everett Recovery Cafe on Wednesday. (Olivia Vanni / The Herald)