Erin Hut, Communications Director, 509.625.6740
Thursday, January 11, 2024 at 4:32 p.m.
Mayor Lisa Brown has declared a state of emergency due to frigid temperatures across the region.
Throughout the week, the Brown Administration has been working with providers to assess shelter bed capacity, availability, and surge capacity.
Based on the information provided by the shelter network, there currently are 261 emergency family beds and 744 emergency single beds available. Surge capacity will allow an additional 183 beds to be available over the next week through both existing providers and new partnerships with faith-based organizations.
These new surge beds will be available at Hope House, Family Promise, Compassionate Addiction Treatment, and TRAC. Twenty beds will also be available at Liberty Park Methodist and another 20 will be available at New Apostolic. Both church spaces will be operated by Jewels Helping Hands.
The Cannon Street Shelter is ready to open and the City has entered an agreement with Compassionate Addiction Treatment (CAT) to be the operator. CAT is currently working to staff the shelter and hopes to have it ready to operate within the next 7-14 days.
Daytime warming services will also be available at Spokane Public Library locations. These locations are open 9 a.m.-7 p.m. Monday-Thursday, 10 a.m.-5 p.m. Friday-Saturday, and noon-4 p.m. Sunday.
Spokane Transit Authority (STA) busses will allow fare waivers for people who state they are going to a warming center or shelter, when the temperature is below 32 degrees. Jewels Helping Hands is also offering shuttle service to any of the surging locations over the next week. People can call 509.723.6201 for assistance.
Members of the community interested in volunteering to support warming centers should reach out to the providers listed above. Those interested in donating items to support warming efforts should coordinate a City Hall resource drop-off through Sarah Nuss (snuss@spokanecity.org). The following items are needed:
The latest information on shelter availability, transportation, and ways to donate or volunteer can be found on the City’s website.
