Volunteers of America Western Washington Philanthropy Officer Joel Feldman updated the Mountlake Terrace City Council on the Lynnwood Neighborhood Center during its May 1 meeting.

Feldman said the center, located at Highway 99 and 196th Street Southwest, will be a 40,000-square-foot health and human service one-stop shop for South Snohomish County and North King County. He assured that although VOAWW is a faith-based organization, it provides services regardless of religious beliefs and will never ask about a person’s religion.

The Lynnwood Neighborhood Center is the “brainchild” of Rick Steves, a travel guide and author who has lived in Edmonds since 1967. Steves, a member of Trinity Lutheran Church, purchased the land next to the church and donated the vacant land and the seed capital to put the project together.

Feldman said that the area where the new Lynnwood Neighborhood Center is located is in great need. VOAWW held discussions with community members to determine which services, in addition to medical and mental health resources, were needed most.

“The cost of early childhood education and child care is astronomical out here,” Feldman said.

The VOAWW’s Early Childhood Education and Assistance Program (ECEAP, pronounced E-Cap) at the new facility will be able to serve 80 children. Further, Feldman said that adult day care was a strong passion for Steves and Lynnwood Neighborhood Center will provide  senior services for those with intellectual and developmental disabilities.

The Lynnwood Neighborhood Center is scheduled for completion this fall.

The presentation material can be seen here.

In other business, the council proclaimed Asian American, Native Hawaiian, and Pacific Islander Heritage Month.

Mayor Kyoko Matsumoto Wright read the proclamation received by DEIC Chair Scott Matsuda. Matsuda’s friend, native Hawaiian comedian and Mountlake Terrace resident Kermit Apio, could not attend to accept the proclamation on behalf of Hawaiians and Pacific Islanders, so Matsuda accepted on his behalf.

“The typical way people become Americans is by birth, boat, border or plane, but I’m here to alert you to another way,” Matsuda said. “I was born an Asian in Hawaii, but not American.”

Matsuda, 71, said that America came to him via statehood when he was 5. At the time, Hawaii was a territory of the United States, much like Puerto Rico, American Samoa and Guam.

Matsuda has lived in Mountlake Terrace for 34 years and said he is happy it’s his home because it’s “welcoming, diverse and progressive.”

The proclamation can be seen here.

The council’s proclamation for Law Enforcement Appreciation Week has been moved to May 8, closer to the date it is observed, May 11–17.

The next council meeting will start at 7 p.m., May 8, at Mountlake Terrace City Hall, 23204 58th Ave. W., Mountlake Terrace. To attend the meeting online, visit zoom.us/join and enter meeting ID 810 1113 9518; no passcode is needed.

To make a public comment remotely, complete the registration form within 24 hours of the meeting’s start.

To listen via telephone, call 1-253-215-8782 and enter the same meeting ID.

You can also view livestreamed meetings and past video recordings at www.youtube.com/cityofmlt.

The agenda can be viewed here.