Cocoon House
Posted by Gary O'Rielly
on Mar 21, 2016
The Cocoon House is a symbol of "every child needs a home." Cassie Franklin, CEO of the Cocoon House and a fellow Rotarian from the South Everett-Mukilteo Rotary Club was our guest speaker this past week. Ironically and somewhat disturbing for most of us, is the average age of a homeless youth is 14 1/2 years old.
The majority of the kids coming to the Cocoon House are there because of violence in their homes. One example of a young man who lived in the woods by himself for over 2 years. After months of getting him back into a normal routine living environment, he graduate from high school and now has his own apartment. Another example was a family selling their daughter into sex trafficking. Shame on the parents! She got so scared on the streets of Seattle, she eventually asked for help and is a work in progress.
The Everett Lions Club bought the first housing unit which was turned over to the Cocoon House. The Cocoon House has transitional housing in Everett, Monroe and now Arlington with 5 rooms for young teen moms. The Cocoon House mission is to empower young people, families and the community to break the cycle of homelessness through outreach, housing and prevention. For the past 25 years, the Cocoon House has been the only agency in Snohomish County exclusively serving at-risk and homeless young people and their families. There are 3,100 students that are homeless in Snohomish County schools and over 5,000 homeless youth die per year.
Donors are needed to continue the support so that homeless teens can have a safe place to live, food to eat and the opportunity to change their lives. Donations make the Cocoon House possible. Check out their website at www.cocoonhouse.org. On Thursday, April 14th from Noon-1:30 pm the Cocoon House's Butterfly Graduation will be held. Tickets are $20. Donations of $150 are being encouraged. The Butterfly Graduation is a special opportunity to recognize and honor the accomplishments of the Cocoon House young adults who have courageously overcome unimaginable life experiences. Come hear their stories.