Hospitality is already part of our story

We’re deeply grateful for the partners who have welcomed egm into their spaces.

We’ve gathered in churches that made room for staff meetings and training. Businesses have hosted conversations and community gatherings. Friends have opened their homes, creating a setting where relationships could deepen around a table.

Other partners have offered vacation properties or second homes for mini staff retreats and opportunities for staff to enjoy a little downtime.

Each space has been different. What they share is hospitality.

A room with enough chairs can bring an entire organization together. A home can make a conversation feel less formal. A quiet place away from the usual pace can give a team time to listen, reflect, plan, and reconnect.

The space itself matters. So does the message behind it: There is room for you here.

Room for our whole team

egm’s staff has grown to approximately 50 people. At present, we don’t have one room large enough for everyone to gather.

That means an all-staff meeting often depends on the hospitality of a church, business, or community partner with an appropriately sized space.

Gathering the whole team is important. Our staff members work in different programs, shelters, offices, and locations across Snohomish County. Time together helps us strengthen relationships across teams, learn from one another, discuss challenges honestly, and remain connected to the mission we share.

Our future Smith campus expansion is being designed with these needs in mind. We look forward to having multipurpose and training spaces where our staff can gather without displacing guests or searching for an off-site location.

And we’re looking forward to sharing that space.

We hope our future campus will welcome nonprofit meetings, community gatherings, trainings, and other opportunities for people to learn and work together. In many ways, the hospitality egm receives today is helping us imagine the hospitality we’ll be able to extend in the future.

Until then, churches and businesses with room for approximately 50 people can meet a real and practical need.

Smaller spaces can carry tremendous value

Not every gathering requires a large room.

Some of our most meaningful work happens in a much smaller circle: a leadership retreat, a staff development session, a project team stepping away to think deeply, or a few colleagues taking time to reconnect outside the demands of an ordinary workday.

Homes and smaller meeting spaces can also provide welcoming settings for conversations with egm partners.

Retreat properties offer another kind of support. A cabin, condo, guesthouse, or second home that is available for a night or two can make a mini staff retreat possible without adding the cost of market-rate lodging.

For many members of our team, a brief stay away is an extraordinary gift. It may be an experience they couldn’t reasonably access on their own.

This isn’t about providing elaborate perks. It’s about caring well for people engaged in deeply relational work.

A change of setting can create room to rest, learn, pray, listen, and strengthen relationships. Those experiences can help staff return to their work with renewed connection and clarity.

Sharing space doesn’t replace fair compensation, strong benefits, or the other commitments involved in being a responsible employer. It can, however, expand what egm is able to offer its team—meaningful development, restorative experiences, and time together that helps create the conditions for people to remain in this work.

A practical form of participation

Partners participate in egm’s work in many ways.

Some give financially. Some volunteer, pray, advocate, attend Poverty 101, share professional knowledge, or help introduce egm to others in the community.

Sharing a space is another meaningful form of participation.

A fellowship hall may be empty during the week. A business conference room may be available for an occasional morning meeting. A home may be well suited for a small gathering. A vacation property may have open dates between family visits or rental periods.

Opening that space once—or making it available occasionally—can create significant value without requiring a substantial new expense from the person or organization sharing it.

There’s no expectation that space must be offered regularly. A single meeting or one short retreat can be helpful. We’ll respect the availability, purpose, and boundaries of each place and explore together whether it fits a current need.

Spaces we’re currently seeking

We’d be grateful to hear about:

• Churches, businesses, or community rooms that can comfortably host an all-staff gathering of approximately 50 people
• Smaller meeting or retreat spaces for staff development, planning, and team connection
• Homes or places of business that could occasionally host an egm partner gathering
• Cabins, guesthouses, condos, vacation homes, or second homes that could accommodate a brief staff retreat or planned time for rest

A space doesn’t need to meet every possible need. Knowing its capacity, general location, typical availability, and any important limitations will help us determine whether it may be a good fit.

Making room together

Transform 2029 is an invitation into shared work—not only the work of expanding a campus, but the patient, relational work of creating places where people can belong and become.

That invitation is larger than any single kind of contribution.

An open door can become a room where our whole staff learns together. It can become a table where a new relationship begins.

An open door can become a room where our whole staff learns together. It can become a table where a new relationship begins. It can give a small team time to work through an important question. It can offer a staff member a rare opportunity to breathe and rest.

That is a tangible gift, and we receive it with gratitude.

If a meeting room, home, church, business, or retreat property comes to mind, you’re invited to tell us about it. We’d be grateful to hear the story of your space and explore whether it could serve a current need.