14/09/2026
Rick Steves has spent decades helping Americans discover the world through travel. But recently, one of his most meaningful investments happened much closer to home.
In south Snohomish County, the Lynnwood Hygiene Center had quietly become a vital resource for people experiencing homelessness. The modest building offered something many take for granted: hot showers, warm meals, clean clothing, and access to laundry facilities. On certain days, visitors could also receive care at a small pop-up medical clinic.
Since opening in 2020, the center had provided more than 50,000 showers and supported roughly 700 members of the local community—many of whom often go unseen by the world around them.
Then the organization received troubling news: the property owner needed to sell the land. The Jean Kim Foundation, which had operated the center rent-free for five years, did not have the funds to purchase it. Without a solution, the center would close just before Christmas.
Executive director Sandra Mears began what she called a “Hail Mary effort.” She searched for donors, explored alternative locations, and looked for any possible way to keep the doors open—but the answers kept coming back as no.
While preparing for what might have been a farewell gathering, she received an unexpected email from someone named Rick Steves.
At first, she didn’t recognize the name.
Steves had been browsing a local news blog while visiting Phoenix when he came across a story about the hygiene center’s possible closure. The building was located just two blocks from his church, and he realized he had driven past it many times without knowing what it was—or how many people relied on it.
Within three days, he contacted both Mears and the property owner and made an offer.
On December 15, he purchased the property for $2.25 million.
“I vividly remember what it's like as a kid backpacking around the world to need a shower,” Steves told attendees at a community celebration. “This is a place that gives countless people that are down and out a shower.”
What was meant to be a goodbye gathering quickly turned into a celebration. Local supporters donated another $400,000 to help improve the facility. Not only will the center remain open, but it will also expand with additional showers, more laundry machines, and longer operating hours.
Despite the praise, Steves didn’t want the story to focus on him as a hero. Instead, he encouraged people to think about the broader issue.
“If we don't have $2.25 million for a whole county to give homeless people a shower and a place to get out of the rain,” he said, “what kind of society are we?”
He described the purchase as the best $2.25 million he could imagine spending—but emphasized that services like this shouldn’t rely solely on private generosity to survive.
Acts of giving are not new for Steves. In 2005, he funded the construction of a 24-unit apartment building for homeless mothers and their children, and in 2017 he donated the entire $4 million property.
For the people connected to the Lynnwood Hygiene Center, however, the most meaningful part wasn’t the money—it was what the gesture represented.
“It says, ‘They are valued. People out there care about us,’” Mears said. “That means a lot.”
Sometimes the most meaningful journey isn’t across the world.
Sometimes, it’s simply across the street.
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