12/22/2022
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The Spokesman-Review
Man arrested with 900 fentanyl pills, gun near Camp Hope
TRENT SHELTER TURNS AWAY HOMELESS IN MISCOMMUNICATION
RangeMedia
KHQ
KXLY
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The Spokesman-Review
Man arrested with 900 fentanyl pills, gun near Camp Hope
Deputies recover stolen property, credit cards
By Quinn Welsch
THE SPOKESMAN-REVIEW
Spokane Valley sheriff’s deputies arrested a Camp Hope resident carrying more than 900 fentanyl pills, 23 grams of methamphetamine and a handgun earlier this month, the Spokane County Sheriff’s Office said in a release on Wednesday.
Two additional handguns, as well as stolen credit cards and stolen clothing, were also recovered from the man’s vehicle.
Gavin B. Barrett, 20, was booked into the Spokane County Jail on suspicion of possession of a controlled substance with intent to deliver and a concealed firearm violation.
Sheriff’s office investigators were following up on a burglary investigation from Oct. 14 in Spokane Valley when they made contact with Barrett and three other occupants of a 2003 Honda Acura on the morning of Dec. 9. They were on the 3200 block of East Pacific Avenue, near the homeless encampment known as Camp Hope.
Marked patrol vehicles blocked the vehicle, and its occupants were detained. The other three occupants were released without charges. All four were residents of Camp Hope and were trespassed from the camp by camp staff, the sheriff’s office said.
Camp Hope staff had asked Barrett to leave the camp numerous times, but he refused , according to Julie Garcia, who helps operate the camp through her organization, Jewels Helping Hands.
“We asked police for nine months to remove this kid from our lot, but no one would help us until they did this,” she said. “They had been running amok for months.”
The four people who were removed from the camp all lived together in the same trailer , which was also towed out of the area.
Barrett initially claimed that he had recently purchased the vehicle and found a backpack that contained a handgun and fentanyl, the sheriff’s office said in a release. He later told authorities that he had been selling the fentanyl for the last month and a half. He said he purchased the pistol “for protection” from someone he knows, the sheriff’s office said.
Deputies are still investigating the incident, and additional arrests and charges are possible, the sheriff’s office said. Quinn Welsch can be reached at (509) 459-5469 or by email at quinnw@spokesman.com.
TRENT SHELTER TURNS AWAY HOMELESS IN MISCOMMUNICATION
By Emry Dinman
THE SPOKESMAN-REVIEW
Some homeless Spokane residents attempting to get out of the dangerous cold weather were unable to get a bed midday Wednesday at the city’s largest indoor shelter, which the mayor had promised wouldn’t turn anyone away. The city said there was a misunderstanding and it wouldn’t happen again Wednesday night.
City officials blamed a communication error, stating unequivocally that no one else would be turned away from the Trent Resource and Assistance Center as temperatures were expected to drop to 10 degrees below zero.
Some were told they could come in long enough to warm up but then had to leave, while others were reportedly told they had to go, said Julie Garcia, founder of Jewels Helping Hands, which manages the Camp Hope homeless encampment.
Garcia said she had attempted to transport multiple people to the shelter Wednesday, only to be turned away. Instead, she brought them to Compassionate Addiction Treatment, which has opened its doors as an emergency warming center.
Mayor Nadine Woodward committed Tuesday that no one would be turned away from the shelter as temperatures plummeted.
“It has nothing to do with politics anymore – this is people’s lives you’re risking at this point lying with information like that,” Garcia said. “If someone walks all the way to the Trent shelter and they get turned away, it’s a mile walk to the next shelter.”
As a small army of volunteers swapped the Trent shelter’s hundreds of wooden beds with metal ones, the building’s occupants were reportedly unable to access portions of the facility. The lack of space prompted management with the Salvation Army, which runs the site, to begin turning people away, according to local service providers and members of the City Council.
City Council President Breean Beggs and Councilwoman Karen Stratton said Wednesday they had learned from shelter staff that people were turned away.
More than 60 people went to the Compassionate Addiction Treatment office by Wednesday afternoon, executive director Hallie Burchinal said.
Burchinal, who was critical of what she said was insufficient planning to provide adequate shelter for the homeless this winter, said the Compassionate Addiction Treatment offices would be open through the night to anyone needing to warm up.
“We know there’s more people outside than shelter capacity, and the temperatures are dangerous and only worsening overnight,” she said.
Burchinal added her organization had spoken with city officials Wednesday and was told there was no funding to support her efforts, but that the city would ask code enforcement officers if the treatment center office’s occupancy limit could be expanded on an emergency basis.
The logistical breakdown at the Trent shelter was not limited to turning away the homeless. Beggs visited the shelter Wednesday and found inoperable hand-washing stations.
Overflow mats meant for the homeless when the beds are all full were also being withheld in some cases, Stratton said she had learned from staff.
City spokesperson Brian Coddington said Wednesday evening that he had not been told by shelter staff that people were being outright turned away, nor that some had been denied mats.
He acknowledged that a miscommunication led Salvation Army staff to tell the homeless seeking refuge at the Trent shelter that there wasn’t sufficient room for new guests to stay for long while the beds were being swapped out. That issue had been resolved by Wednesday night, he said.
“No one will be turned away tonight,” Coddington said. “Mats will be available for anyone who doesn’t have a bed, and (the Salvation Army) will coordinate with other shelter resources in the area.”
He noted the Trent shelter is not the only option. According to sheltermespokane.org, the city’s regularly updated list of shelter beds, there were 93 spaces open as of Tuesday night throughout the city’s shelter system. Most of those beds only serve certain populations, however.
Coddington said the issue with the hand-washing stations, which operate on a tank that needs to be refilled manually, had been fixed since Beggs left the facility earlier in the day. Emry Dinman can be reached at (509) 459-5472 or by email at emryd@spokesman.com.
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RangeMedia
Luke Baumgarten
(Photo by Erick Doxey, illustration by Valerie Osier)
On the coldest day this winter, Trent staff was telling people they could come get warm, then they had to leave. It was all a misunderstanding.
This story is about how failed communication had unhoused people believing that Trent shelter wasn’t taking guests. In an effort to not perpetuate that misunderstanding, we want to be clear: Trent is open tonight and will find bed space either there or at another shelter for anyone who needs it, according to city spokesperson Brian Coddington.
RANGE will continue to monitor and update shelter availability on Twitter.
For several hours today, on the coldest day this winter, where daytime highs barely reached 10 degrees and overnight lows are projected to be -10 degrees with a wind chill of as low as -26 degrees, Trent shelter was telling people seeking shelter that there was no capacity.
In a video sent to City Council members by Julie Garcia of Jewels Helping Hands, JHH Operations Manager Kenny Crary calls the shelter and asks if there is room for five people who are cold. The person on the other line says the shelter is “just letting people come in and get warm and that’s it.”
RANGE was able to independently verify the messaging used by staff in this video. In two phone calls to the shelter’s main line, separate shelter employees each said similar things.
“We’re just doing [a] warming shelter tonight because we don’t have capacity,” said one employee after we identified ourselves as media. “People can come in and get warm and then they can leave.”
We asked if people would be able to come back later if they got cold again, the person replied, “I think they can come in and come out.” The employee confirmed sleeping mats would not be available tonight.
A different employee told RANGE this is because the Salvation Army, which took over shelter operations from the Guardians Foundation in late October, is swapping out the wooden beds purchased by Guardians in favor of metal beds that will better resist pests.
This changeover has been planned for weeks, though it’s unclear why the Salvation Army would choose to make the switch during such frigid conditions.
RANGE called City Communications Director Brian Coddington and Salvation Army’s Major Ken Perrine but neither answered. We left voicemails with both of them and sent emails to them as well as city communications manager Kirstin Davis seeking comment. A 1:45 p.m. call to Council President Beggs found him at Trent to investigate the situation.
In an email Coddington sent Councilmembers at around 2 p.m., he wrote that there had been a miscommunication between The Salvation Army and its front-line staff, writing:
The metal beds are still being brought in for the wooden beds. While this is happening, they are trying to limit extra activity, which is why they are not offering sleeping space for the next few hours. The bed transition caused a little confusion among the staff.
Beggs called back at approximately 3:45 saying that, “if they were turning people away there, they don't seem to be now.”
Beggs also confirmed the bed swap caused challenges. “They did have a huge chaos today — they were switching out those wooden beds for the new metal beds, and so the space was really challenged today,” he said, “but it seems like there's plenty of beds for the people there, and I watched people being admitted to the shelter before I left.”
Coddington followed up with RANGE at around 4:30, confirming the miscommunication among Salvation Army staff and assuring us that “the center is accepting guests for warming today and will have sleeping space for them this evening and/or connect people to other open spaces in the system if that is the best fit or desired decision.”
He said Family Promise and Cannon were the only shelters reported totally full, concluding, “the bottom line and most important thing is people will not be turned away tonight. They will have a place to sleep or get connected to other spaces in the system if it’s a better fit.”
That message appeared to have reached frontline employees when RANGE called the shelter around 6:15 p.m. The staff member who answered confirmed space was available and people wouldn't be turned away.
We followed up with Coddington, asking what steps The Salvation Army is taking to ensure that information is making its way accurately all the way down to its front-line staff. We will update this story if he responds.
Other warming options
In addition to the city’s official warming solution at Trent and the shelters documented on sheltermespokane.org, a handful of other providers have begun offering warming services as well:
Compassionate Addiction Treatment | 168 S Division St. Spokane, WA
CAT has been given clearance by the city to operate a 50+ person warming center at their office on Division Street. They’re working with Yoyot Sp’q’n’i and they will serve meals, warm drinks and provide a place for people to come in from the cold 24 hours a day through Dec. 23 at 6 p.m. They need volunteers to staff the center, learn how here.
Camp Hope | 218 S Ralph St, Spokane, WA
Camp organizers have turned the summer cooling shelter and makeshift headquarters into a warming hut. This hut had been shutting down at 5 p.m. but camp organizers told us it will now operate around the clock for the next two days, at least, according to Empire Health Foundation President Zeke Smith.
As currently configured, the warming hut can sleep approximately 40 people but the occupancy permit allows 115. Camp Hope staff tell us they will accommodate as many people as they can, though certain things inside the shelter cannot be moved easily. All are welcome at the warming hut, not just badged Camp Hope residents.
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KHQ
SPOKANE, Wash. - The Catalyst Project on Sunset Hill has been welcoming new residents for close to two weeks. As of Wednesday, 26 people have fully moved in.
The Catalyst Project is Catholic Charities' latest transitional housing project, funded through Washington state's "Rights of Way Initiative," aimed at helping house residents at Camp Hope–the homeless encampment located on Washington State Department of Transportation (WSDOT) land north of I-90 in East Central Spokane.
Anthony Jolls said he's spent three or four years living in his truck, and that he's been at Camp Hope since the spring.
"I'm very excited to get the heck off the streets and get a shower, oh yeah my goodness," Jolls said.
Jolls will be moving into the Catalyst Project in the coming days, after service providers at Camp Hope helped him get an ID, a phone and now a place to sleep at night.
"It's all the little steps," Jolls said. "Then getting into a house, this Catalyst Project, where I can take a shower, where I can go to work and actually clean up after work. That's the whole world right there, you know?"
Dawn Kinder is the Catholic Charities' chief stabilization officer, and one of the people overseeing the Catalyst Project.
"We've had a lot of participants who haven't done laundry in six months who were able to wash and dry their clothes on day one," Kinder said. "We've had a lot of people commenting on how nice it is to feel warm enough to want to drink water, which is a heartbreaking thing to hear but also inspiring to know that we're helping people make those changes."
Kinder said they had some minor bumps in the road moving people in at first, but their goal remains to move in four to five people a day, in hopes of being full by the first week of January.
"We're working hard, it's a new program, so there's things to continue to try and sort through," Kinder said. "But folks are here, they're indoors, they're being fed warm meals, they're being supported, so we're happy with where we're at."
West Hills Neighborhood Council Communications Director Derek Zandt said the council's goal is to work together with Catholic Charities.
"We're all in this neighborhood together, we're all here together," Zandt said. "There's really no reason to dislike each other or to fight or anything of that sort, which seems to be some of the things that have happened in the past. It's just not the way to go."
Kinder said they haven't had conversations with the neighborhood council to this point because some members of the council were named as plaintiffs in a lawsuit against Catholic Charities–which she said was dismissed by a judge last week–but now hopes to rebuild their relationship moving forward.
"We're always open to that conversation," Kinder said. "We want to be a good neighbor; we are a part of the neighborhood now. So yes, we want to, and those need to be respectful and reasonable requests in both directions."
Moving forward is all Anthony Jolls can think about.
"I'm happy, you know?" an emotional Jolls said. "It's just nice to know you're getting out of here."
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KXLY
Posted: December 21, 2022 5:53 PM Updated: December 21, 2022 7:41 PM byPeter Choi
SPOKANE, Wash. — One local organization is making sure seniors are taken care of, providing meals, blankets, and space heaters to help them stay warm and comfortable this winter.
Too often, our elderly neighbors who live alone are an afterthought, which could be dangerous for them in extreme cold.
“This time of year, it’s always an important time for our seniors,” said Jeff Edwards, Executive Director of Meals on Wheels for Greater Spokane County.
Meals on Wheels knows many seniors are in need, especially in brutal conditions like the one’s were experiencing now.
“We try to use volunteers on a chance to welfare checks, check up on seniors, what they need,” Edwards said. “If that’s blankets or space heaters, we do everything we can to make them comfortable.”
Meals on Wheels is more than just a meal delivery service. They also prioritize the safety of our local seniors.
“A lot of seniors, they might have family but the family doesn’t live in this region. Even their children and grandchildren rely on us to go knock on that door, make sure they are okay,” Edwards said.
The organization says they are making thousands of meals each day, and yet they need more help to meet the needs of the elderly community.
“We are taking donations. New space heaters, those have to be a new in the box for safety reasons, so it’s really anything that can help seniors warm, hats, gloves, blankets,” Edwards said.
They are also looking for more volunteers.
“I have some wonderful people,” said Scott Paulus, a volunteer for Meals on Wheels. “I look forward to seeing them. It’s nice to get a hold of them, unfortunately there are a lot of people out there that don’t seem to have a lot of family.”
If you want to make a donation to Meals on Wheels, you can drop off items at their offices any time. If you’re interested in becoming a volunteers, click here.