Dan Bates / The Herald  (click to enlarge) Zippy’s Java Lounge owner Marilyn Rosenberg (center) visits with customers and friends Friday, a day before she leaves for the Mayo Clinic for treatment of a rare genetic disorder. At right, 2-year-old Elvis Rockwell covers the eyes of his mother, Ali Rockwell, entertaining Nicole Greenwald (left), Vernon Huffman, Mark Nagel and Zippy the Dalmatian.

This is a story about a community I’m very proud to be part of.

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EVERETT — Marilyn Rosenberg took the equity out of her house in the Riverside neighborhood to open Zippy’s Java Lounge because there were no hangouts in town that fit her free-spirited style.

She had no experience running a cafe. Family members said she was crazy for going out on a limb.

More than two years later, her business sense and heart for community have helped turn the java joint named after her purebred Dalmatian into a vibrant downtown gathering place for young students, middle-aged professionals and old hippies.

Now that an illness is forcing Rosenberg, the cafe’s sole proprietor, to take time off, a group of friends and loyal customers are volunteering to wash dishes and sweep floors to help keep the doors open.

“I’m optimistic about the future,” said Rosenberg, 43, a native of Golden Valley, Minn., a suburb five miles west of downtown Minneapolis. “I grew up believing that you can do what you want and never thinking that someone can stop you.”

It’s that can-do spirit that endears her to people like Kira Williams, owner of Insight Massage Studio and Spa on Hewitt Avenue, who is Rosenberg’s jogging partner.

“She’s a jill-of-all-trades and a great mentor,” Williams said. “I’m proud to share the street with her.”

Williams is one of about a dozen people who say they will pitch in while Rosenberg is at the Mayo Clinic undergoing treatments for a cluster of precancerous polyps, which may be an indication that she has Gardner Syndrome, a rare, life-threatening condition that runs in her family. She may have part of her colon removed, but she said she feels lucky because the abnormal growths were discovered early.

She is scheduled to leave for the world-renowned medical practice in Rochester, Minn., today.

After spending a decade selling art at Seattle’s Pike Place Market, a love of horseback riding brought Rosenberg to Snohomish County. She eventually bought a house here and an Arabian-quarter horse cross named “Mojo,” which she keeps at a stable on Ebey Island.

She’s obsessive about recycling. She has a place where people can drop off old grocery bags, and her cafe sells recycled goods, such as knit sacks a local artist has made using old plastic bags. She even keeps a worm bin to compost food scraps near a bank of computers at the rear of the shop. It doesn’t smell, she points out, and every month it produces 10 pounds of rich worm castings that she uses to fertilize her garden at home.

Rosenberg is a founding member of Green Everett, a group that focuses on environmental sustainability issues, including renewable energy and reducing waste and household pollution.

The cafe with a tall ceiling, brick walls, comfortable couches and worn wooden floors also has a lending library with a wide-ranging collection of titles such as “Courage to Create,” “Non Violent Soldier of Islam” and “The Alchemist.”

For artists who sell and display their paintings, musicians and poets who perform, and environmental activists who frequently hold meetings, Zippy’s is a place where they feel at home.

It is that connection that has compelled people to help Zippy’s stay open.

“I sweep a mean floor,” said Chad Shue, a blogger and liberal activist whose daughter is helping Rosenberg transcribe recipes. Shue’s wife bought an apron and started washing dishes at the cafe last week.

“It’s become progressive central and Marilyn is the focal point,” said Jackie Minchew, a middle school music teacher who plans, with his wife, to wash dishes at Zippy’s until Rosenberg returns.

Minchew, who ran a failed bid for Everett City Council last year, held his campaign kickoff party at Zippy’s. He has also played there with his three-piece folk guitar band the Three Chord Progressives, which includes Shue and Luis Moscoso, secretary of the state Democratic Central Committee.

Rosenberg said the outpouring of support was a surprise and has lifted a burden. One customer even offered to walk Zippy, the dog, for her.

“They almost started making lists for me,” she said. “It created a warm spot in my heart.”

Reporter David Chircop: 425-339-3429 or dchircop@heraldnet.com.