Mayor Details City Plan to Assist Those Experiencing Homelessness

Kirstin Davis, 509.625.7773

Wednesday, September 25, 2019 at 11:41 a.m.

Today Spokane Mayor David Condon detailed the City’s plan to meet the shelter needs of those experiencing homelessness as cold weather nears, saying that the plan reflects the dedication of the staff committed to serving our most vulnerable citizens.

“Our staff worked diligently to develop a comprehensive regional solution to meet the additional shelter needs for those experiencing homelessness. We have faced a number of challenges along the way and have had to revise our approach to get to an outcome that meets the most urgent needs right now,” says Mayor David Condon. “Our staff’s flexibility and creativity ultimately will allow us to achieve that goal.”

Here’s a look at the plan’s action steps:

  • Gain approval from Council to proceed with a contract with The Salvation Army to operate a new shelter and complete negotiations. This step allows The Salvation Army to proceed with the hiring and training of employees needed to serve our most vulnerable. Additionally, this step would allow Salvation Army leaders to participate in selection of a location for a continuous stay shelter. The Mayor met with Salvation Army leaders yesterday to tour a possible site and was impressed by their knowledge and insights into the community’s needs.
  • Finalize a location for a new shelter for this fall and beyond. City staff has continued its exhaustive search for locations and is close to announcing a site for a shelter. Because of the timing, amenities and improvements would be added over time to any shelter location, but the goal for this fall is for a shelter to accommodate up to 60 people. Staff expects to present a location to Council as early as next week.
  • Augment the shelter location with emergency warming center locations and gain approval from Council for an operator for those locations. Staff is anticipating opening two warming center locations to accommodate up to 150 people. Again, an operator needs to be named soon to allow for hiring and training of staff.
  • Continue to collaborate with other providers of services for those experiencing homelessness to fill identified gaps. For example, staff will be bringing Council a request for funding to close gaps in service hours for Women’s Hearth and Hope House, and to ensure Women’s Hearth will continue to offer extended daytime service hours on the weekends to meet a need.

“Our team is confident in the path forward, with the Salvation Army as a key partner,” the Mayor says. “We must come together to effect this change at the City and ultimately throughout the region.”

While work proceeds to create additional shelter and warming center capacity, the City will continue to provide ongoing operational support to 24 projects providing direct, housing-focused services for those experiencing homelessness including street outreach, assessment, shelters, transitional housing, rapid re-housing and permanent supportive housing and is actively working with community partners to advance the targeted-capacity shelter system. A continuous stay shelter is part of the targeted services model and allows for shelter patrons to have ongoing access to the shelter for approximately 90 days and stabilization and housing-focused case management to meet their needs. Those experiencing homelessness that are referred to the shelter will know where they will be staying each night and can focus on the steps they need to take to move forward.

Shelter services are a key part of the work to build a system with sustainable, strategic investments region-wide that will provide consistent levels of service. The community’s network of providers are equipped to do assess the needs of individuals and refer them to services that can help.

The City worked with the Continuum of Care’s Single Adult and Chronic Homelessness Sub- Committee to identify a series of criteria for an ideal shelter location that would meet needs, as well as examined best practice research on successful shelter models. Finally, there was a recognized need for a shelter to be located outside of the downtown core to meet the safety and security needs of the community and the patrons using the space, offer a regional solution to address travel barriers, and offer a different kind of solution with collocated supports.