Erin Hut, Communications Director, 509.625.6740
Monday, May 13, 2024 at 12:19 p.m.
An audit of Spokane’s homeless shelter system points toward moving from a large congregate shelter to a model with smaller, scattered sites.
The audit was among the recommendations from Mayor Lisa Brown’s transition committees to better understand shelters, capacity and resources. It included shelter tours, feedback from providers, the community and those with lived experience, as well as community and neighborhood council surveys.
“This valuable input, based on a collaborative approach, will guide how the community shapes a cost-effective, relationship-based system to assist individuals toward housing,” Mayor Brown said.
Scattered sites alleviate having a single large shelter, such as the Trent Resource and Assistance Center (TRAC), in one neighborhood and concerns of “warehousing individuals.” Churches were utilized as small shelter sites during the cold snap last winter as a pilot project. Following success of that pilot, the City is moving forward with a request for proposals for scattered sites of 20 to 30 beds, which will be issued soon.
TRAC will gradually be decommissioned by the end of September under a tentative timeline, but could still possibly be used during hazardous weather events as the lease signed by the previous administration expires in 2025. The state Legislature appropriated $4 million to assist with the transition out of TRAC and $1 million to coordinate street medicine outreach.
Other audit recommendations include:
A presentation detailing the full audit will be presented during Monday’s City Council Urban Experience Committee meeting at 1:15 p.m.
