Sheila Morley, Community, Housing and Human Services, 509.625.6052
Thursday, October 31, 2013 at 10:54 a.m.
Each fall, the City of Spokane tunes up the snow plows, orders liquid de-icer, and makes other preparations for the cold of winter. The winter needs of our community, however, go beyond the snow and ice accumulation on our streets; we're also deeply concerned about the needs of homeless people who may not have a way to get warm during extreme winter weather.
The City has selected and contracted with two social service agencies to be designated as “warming centers” for homeless people. Volunteers of America Hope House has been chosen as the warming center for single women and The Salvation Army has been selected to serve single men, families with children and couples without children. The Volunteers of America Crosswalk will serve as an on-call warming center for youth.
These sites, which are not set up for lodging, will be activated during periods of extreme cold weather at the request of the City from Nov. 1 through Feb. 28 when the temperature falls below 20 degrees. These sites would be available in addition to regular homeless shelters located throughout the City, allowing more people to get out of the cold.
