Local musician Annemarie Russell is hosting a free concert on Thursday, Jan. 22nd to benefit Everett based non-profit, Housing Hope, an agency providing homes and services to homeless and low-income families in Snohomish County. The show will be at the Shack Art Center, 2921 Hoyt Ave, Everett. Doors open at 6.30pm and the event will finish around 8.30pm. Attendees 21 and over can enjoy cocktails provided by Bluewater Organic Distilling.

Russell’s music has a unique sound of solid Indie Americana: a fusion of folk, pop, rock and jazz. An experienced performer across the country, she also has strong ties to Housing Hope thanks to her father, Bruce Eklund, one of the founders of Housing Hope 27 years ago.

Russell remembers her first experience with homelessness. At age six or seven her father received a phone call from a church where a homeless family turned up looking for housing. In a household where money was tight, her parents decided to put them in a hotel room for a night.

“There in the lobby was the family,” said Russell. “One thing struck me so deeply: This family looked just like mine: two parents, a couple of kids. Even then I knew every family deserved a safe, decent, and affordable home.”

Housing Hope is dedicated to not only solving homelessness, but assisting its residents to increase life skills and employment, and its children to succeed in school and life. Donations received at the event will go directly to ChildHope, which provides supportive services for children including Tomorrow’s Hope Childcare Center, the homeless teen parent program, in-home child services and parenting education. Russell held a concert in 2013 for ChildHope and raised more than $9,000 for homeless and low-income children in Snohomish County.