2/1/2023
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KHQ
KXLY
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KHQ
SPOKANE, Wash. - A mid-afternoon fire earlier this month destroyed a home, displaced a family and killed their cat.
"The population of people who don't have homes is already so large and it takes a kitchen fire to put you in that same position," Makayla Munson said.
Weeks later, they're still looking for a roof over their head as temperatures shrink into the single digits.
"I should've not left those groceries on the stove," she said.
A last-minute mistake...
"What's the worst that can happen," she said.
...cost Makayla Munson her home.
"Literally four minutes later my neighbor calls me," she said. "She said there's like 10 firetrucks outside your house is burning down."
Munson said her dogs knocked something over onto her plugged-in toaster which then caught the bags of groceries on fire. Fire investigators said it was a total loss.
"I'm living my literal worst nightmare," she said.
Now displaced, Munson is forced to couch surf with her boyfriend and their 2-year-old son Isaac.
"Just chaos really," she said.
In just the last two weeks they've moved four times. Isaac doesn't understand why this is happening.
"He's a little sad, I think. More confused. He wants to go home he wants to leave all the time. I took him to the house with me to grab something out of the storage shed in the back and he was banging on the window screaming house and I'm like you can't go in there. We cannot go in there," she said. "He has no idea that everything he's ever known is gone."
The next step is finding a roof over their head but it's harder than expected.
"Everywhere we go it's kind of like a dead end. We're running into roadblocks. Oh, you don't make $6,000 a month, you can't rent here. You don't have a 700-credit score, you don't have perfect credit profiles, all this stuff. It's just all kind of unrealistic, I think," she said. "I've lived in Spokane my entire life and an apartment I used to rent for $600 a month is now $1600 a month it's mind-blowing."
Munson said the apartments that are affordable have a 6 to 12-month wait. So, her family is stuck making too much to qualify for low-income housing but too little to find affordable housing in a city she's always called home.
"I've never not been able to afford to live in the town that I was born in," she said. "It is absolute madness."
Munson said they're still dealing with their insurance company and that the cost to repair the mobile home will be nearly as much if they were to just buy a new one.
If you are looking to help, the family does have a GoFundMe.
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KXLY
SPOKANE, Wash. — The City of Spokane is asking for your input on how to implement long-term housing solutions in the area.
The City is sending a survey on the Building Opportunity and Choices for All Interim ordinance from last year and how it can help add housing in the area.
The City is also developing changes to the Comprehensive Plan and Zoning Code that would also increase different housing types in the City's development code.
It is also looking to increase the development of "missing middle housing," which includes two, three and four-unit housing structures in Spokane.
The survey is asking input from you about your housing needs, the experience of finding housing and your vision for housing in Spokane. If you live in, work in or visit Spokane, this survey is for you.
“A home is very personal and can have a huge effect on one’s happiness and comfort,” said Spencer Gardner, the City’s Planning Services Director. “To that end, the City is seeking input from anyone interested in this topic through an online survey.”
You can fill out the survey by clicking on the appropriate link below. It will be up for a few months and is available in the following langauges: