Julie Happy, 509.625.7773, jhappy@spokanecity.org
Friday, May 6, 2016 at 2:35 p.m.
The City of Spokane is planning to enable round-the-clock emergency shelter access in Spokane, regardless of time and temperature. On Friday, Mayor David Condon, Council President Ben Stuckart, and Catholic Charities Executive Director Rob McCann were joined by several other community partnership agencies to make the announcement at the House of Charity, Spokane’s central shelter.
The City has been working with those community partners in recent months to put together a deliberate plan to address the needs of Spokane’s homeless population – in particular, the current lack of 24-hour, year-round shelter space. The partnership includes Catholic Charities, Family Promise, Salvation Army, Volunteers of America, Transitions, YWCA, Downtown Spokane Partnership, and the Spokane Police Department.
The plan includes a two-pronged approach. Mayor Condon and Council President Stuckart are working together to incrementally increase human service grant funding up to 1 percent of the general fund through the City’s annual budgeting process. The goal is to add any increases in Human Service funding in 2017 first to emergency shelters to maintain a continuum of care for those without shelter. The City is also contributing $200,000 from emergency funding from 2015’s excess revenue to help keep doors open at the House of Charity for the rest of 2016.
The funding for 24-hour shelter support is expected to be in place by start of 2017, if not sooner.
“This is an important next step in a plan to provide 24/7 care for our homeless populations,” said Condon. “New, more permanent housing has opened recently and more is set to come online later this year, but 24-hour shelter space remains a gap.”
“I am thankful for the contributions of our community partners who have stepped up,” said Stuckart. “It is going to take even more collaboration and partnerships in our community for sustainable short-term shelters, long-term solutions and for supportive housing solutions for the chronically homeless in Spokane.”
“We’re excited to have an idea and a hope that we can be open 24/7 for all people, any time, day or night,” said McCann. “This is the place where they can come and be safe, protected, and be given that dignity, respect, compassion, and grace that every person deserves.”
The City invests over $13 million annually into housing and supportive services for citizens in need. The City’s housing-first strategy places individuals and families into safe housing situations so that service providers can focus attention on the underlying issues.
The City of Spokane and its many non-profit community partners are committed to helping individuals and families in need of help. For coordinated assessment services, households with children should call the Salvation Army Rapid Re-Housing Program at 509.325.5005. Households without children can call SNAP at 509.456.SNAP (7627).
