2/7/2023
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The Spokesman-Review
Man arrested after allegedly slashing fellow Trent shelter guest’s face with box cutter
KREM
The Wall St Journal
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The Spokesman-Review
Man arrested after allegedly slashing fellow Trent shelter guest’s face with box cutter
By Quinn Welsch THE SPOKESMAN-REVIEW
A man was arrested Saturday at the Trent Resource and Assistance Shelter after he allegedly cut another man’s face when the victim asked him to stop making discriminatory remarks, according to court documents.
Michael J. Kegley, 49, was arrested on suspicion of first-degree assault at the homeless shelter, 4320 E. Trent Ave. According to court documents, a man three beds away overheard Kegley making remarks about Jews and Black people.
The man, 27, asked Kegley to stop saying the racist remarks, to which Kegley replied something to the effect of, “I’m gonna come over and gut you,” documents said.
Kegley is said to have gotten into the man’s face and kissed him on the lips. The man pushed Kegley, who then produced a box cutter and lunged toward him, cutting his face around 12:45 a.m., documents said.
Police officers found the victim with a “significant and deep” laceration 2-3 inches across his face, running from his nose to his left eye, that required stitches.
Kegley remained in Spokane County Jail on $20,000 bond on Monday afternoon.
Kegley’s criminal history includes numerous counts of violence and drug incidents dating back to the 1990s, court records show.
The Salvation Army has operated the Trent Resource and Assistance Shelter since November.
Quinn Welsch can be reached at (509) 459-5469 or by email at quinnw@spokesman.com.
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KREM
Catholic Charities has sent at least four people in the West Hills neighborhood cease and desist letters in regards to the Catalyst Project.
SPOKANE, Wash. — For months, The Catalyst Project has been at the center of back and forth tensions between Catholic Charities and some people in the West Hills neighborhood.
Now, tensions have turned into cease and desist letters on behalf of Catholic Charities.
According to people in the 'Save West Hills' neighborhood group, at least four people have received C&D letters about their behavior around the Catalyst Project.
One of those letters was delivered to Sarah Hunter last month. She said she was shocked by what she read in the letter, mostly because she believes the content is false.
"They’re accusing me of lurking and stalking," Hunter said. "Stalking is a felony. That’s not me and I absolutely did not do that.”
Hunter is a part of the 'Save West Hills' group that has organized protests outside the Catalyst building and voiced their concerns for the project.
However, Hunter said she hasn't been to the building more than twice. She said the claims in the letter are untrue.
"You’re intimidating me and my family and we work hard in this community," Hunter explained. "And we want to help people. But, to be treated like the way we’ve been treated since the start of this project is appalling. It saddens me.”
In the letter, Catholic Charities claims Hunter has "spent substantial periods parked outside the Catalyst Project," and had "increasing hostile and aggressive interactions with staff."
CEO of Catholic Charities Rob McCann said in his 23 years of working with the organization, he has never seen behavior like this or sent a C&D letter to a neighbor.
McCann also shared a statement on behalf of his organization, responding to the letters:
"Catholic Charities has a 110-year history of working with neighbors and community members across the 13 counties of Eastern Washington in which we serve over 65,000 different people in need each year. We always engage in dialogue with neighbors as long as that dialogue is polite, professional, and has reasonable elements of safety and mutual respect. We are, and have been in regular communication with our neighbors in the West Hills who have, for the most part, been willing to engage in positive, professional and honest dialogue with us. Those dialogues, although sometimes centered on challenging issues of our day, have been productive and gone quite well.
Unfortunately, the behavior of an extremely small number of West Hills residents has placed the health and safety of our staff and clients at risk. That behavior, which generally includes filming staff and vulnerable residents on an ongoing basis, sharing incorrect, knowingly untrue and inflammatory information on social media, and making threatening/intimidating/profanity-laced statements to staff and fragile clients has created an environment that has caused our staff and program participants to feel unsafe in their workplace and at their homes.
There are more than 3,200 official "residents" of the West Hills. The behavior we have experienced that has become a threat t basic health and safety comes from approximately 6-9 individuals who claim to be West Hills residents. We do not believe that this troubling conduct represents any majority of the West Hills Neighborhood at all, but rather are the continued dangerous and disturbing actions of a small group of deeply wounded and hurting individuals who we will continue to pray might have a transformation of heart.
As we pray for and await that transformation of heart from this small group of people, we also recognize that we have a responsibility as an employer and as an organization whose mission is to reveal God's love to the poor and vulnerable, to ensure that we are providing a safe and secure environment for our staff and clients. By notifying this very small number of individuals who are participating in potentially harmful behaviors, that they should cease and desist their actions and by preventing them from continuing to access our properties, we are fulfilling this responsibility.
We are encouraged by early successes at Catalyst. To date more than 50 participants are enrolled, and more intakes are scheduled in the days and weeks going forward. Participants at the project are accessing meal and laundry services, case management, employment support, behavioral health services, recovery groups, and medical care—all pointed toward the goals of long-range housing stability and improved overall health. We look forward to helping more participants connect to Catalyst and begin working toward these goals and we remain committed to protecting our staff and our clients from any threat or danger that might present itself."
Hunter said while she disagrees with the project, she doesn’t disagree with the need to support those experiencing homelessness.
“I want to help the homeless," Hunter said. "I just think there’s a better way to do it. A better use of resources.”
The West Hills neighborhood council and Rob McCann both say they've expressed interest in a Good Neighbor Agreement. However, the council chair shared messages that have not been returned by chief-executives at Catholic Charities.
Spokane Police also shared crime numbers for the last three months for the area within 1/4 mile radius of the Catalyst building, comparing them to the same time frame one year ago. SPD said calls for service do not directly correlate with causation as there are a multitude of factors that go into crime trends.
Nov 2021 vs Nov 2022: 54 CFS vs 40 CFS
Dec 2021 vs Dec 2022: 45 CFS vs 77 CFS
Jan 2022 vs Jan 2023: 54 CFS vs 60 CFS
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The Wall St Journal
Surging rents make affordable units hard to find
By Jon Kamp
Updated Feb. 6, 2023 at 10:08 am ET
The federal- and state-funded site in Providence was slated to handle up to 66 people when it opened in mid-December to provide warmth for homeless people. It has consistently seen much higher numbers, said Eileen Hayes, chief executive at Amos House, the nonprofit running the site. “More and more of our folks are falling behind and falling through the cracks,” she said.
The crowds underscore the tension here and around New England, where several states face a rising number of homeless people that is outpacing the national trend, federal data from local counts show. The region’s fast-rising rents have inflamed the problem, in some places after the pandemic spurred on some population growth, housing advocates and state officials say. The issue has fueled efforts to provide more shelter in a region known for its frigid winter weather and pushes to produce more affordable housing.
A federal report in December said three New England states—Vermont, Maine and Rhode Island—had some of the biggest homeless increases in so-called point-in-time estimates stemming from January counts in 2020 and 2022. Numbers were up slightly across the country in the same span, with wide variation among states and cities. The U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development compared those two years nationally because the Covid-19 pandemic caused abnormally low 2021 counts in some locales.
The warming center in Rhode Island’s capital opened in December of last year.
Tight housing markets in New England have made it harder to find units for low-income people who qualify for aid to help pay the rent, according to state officials and advocates. Other challenges include an opioid crisis that is often intertwined with homelessness and, in some places, migrant families who have recently come to the region, officials said.
There were nearly 1,600 homeless people estimated in Rhode Island based on the most recently available statewide count performed early last year, up about 24% from the year before and 43% from two years earlier as the state grapples with an affordable housing shortage. Vermont’s count rose 150% in the two year period, and Maine’s climbed 110%.
Federal pandemic relief money may have made counting the homeless population easier in some places, officials said. Vermont, for example, tallied about 2,780 homeless people during its point-in-time count last year, after the state used federal aid to expand eligibility for sheltering some people in hotels and motels. This population included people who were temporarily staying in other peoples’ homes and aren’t typically included in these surveys.
“That has definitely shed a light on the number of people in Vermont who are experiencing tremendous housing insecurity,” said Sarah Phillips, who directs the Office of Economic Opportunity in Vermont’s Department for Children and Families.
The state may post a yet-higher number this year: Officials said there were recently 2,800 homeless adults and children in hotels and motels.
In other recent data, a Massachusetts count from the end of January showed nearly 3,900 homeless families in emergency shelters including hotels and motels, the highest number seen in several years. That state—which reported a decline in overall homelessness between the early 2020 and 2022 counts—is the only state in New England required by law to provide shelter for families who are homeless.
The Amos House nonprofit runs a warming center from the Cranston Street Armory.
Some New England cities have rapidly become more expensive for renters. Providence saw average rents sought by landlords rise 44% to more than $2,000 in December, compared with the same period five years earlier, Zillow Group Inc. data show. Manchester, N.H., and Portland, Maine, saw 57% and 43% increases, respectively. Those hikes were above the 31% increase nationally.
Pandemic-era trends added some strain as remote places such as Maine attracted newcomers, including people no longer tethered to big-city offices, stressing already tight housing markets.
“Part of the story has been in-migration into the state that has surpassed the additional production to make a bad situation worse,” said Greg Payne, senior adviser on housing policy to Maine Gov. Janet Mills, a Democrat.
The state in her first term invested about $180 million, including $50 million in federal aid, to spur development of 1,500 new affordable housing units, Mr. Payne said. But Maine likely needs between 20,000 and 25,000 affordable units to meet demand, he said. These are homes built by private developers with government aid for people with income below a certain level.
The city of Burlington, Vt., is slated in early February to open 30 new shed-sized shelters near downtown. The Vermont House passed a bill Friday that included about $21 million in funding to cover the expanded hotel/motel housing program through the end of the fiscal year, since federal funding will soon expire. The bill still needs Senate approval and the governor’s signature.
Rhode Island officials in December shut down a tent encampment outside the statehouse over objections from housing-advocacy groups. Some advocates said they are frustrated the state didn’t move faster to spend $250 million in federal dollars aimed at housing issues in the recent budget, and say the state is also short on needed shelter beds.
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Eileen Hayes is a social worker and chief executive of Amos House.
A new housing secretary starts there on Monday, succeeding a predecessor who resigned after a year on the job. Gov. Dan McKee‘s recent budget proposal includes $30 million to expand shelter capacity.
Rhode Island House Speaker Joseph Shekarchi said affordable housing legislation this year will include a measure to streamline the appeals process when local communities oppose development, which he said is a challenge there.
On a recent weeknight, volunteers and outreach workers interviewed the crowd at the Providence armory as part of the latest homeless count. People streamed in and out, some heading to a bank of portable toilets set up outside.
Rhonda Rezendes, a 57-year-old who said she has been homeless on and off for the past decade, and struggled with alcohol use, was staying there with her longtime boyfriend. He lost an apartment two years ago, she said. “I never thought I would end up in a place like this,” she said.
Mike Procaccianti, 48, said he left his Providence apartment in July after a dispute with a landlord who wanted to overhaul the unit to fetch more money, and has since camped at the statehouse. He said he also had recently lost part-time work at a liquor store, and has been sober about a month after entering detox for alcohol dependence.
He said he started staying at the armory warming center as soon as it opened, but he and his girlfriend want to find a new apartment. They are hoping for help from a federal low-income housing program.
“The rents have gone up a lot since Covid,” he said.
Write to Jon Kamp at Jon.Kamp@wsj.com