7/23/2022
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The Spokesman-Review
SPOKANE PREPARES TO OPEN COOLING CENTERS
KREM
The Center Square
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The Spokesman-Review
By Greg Mason
THE SPOKESMAN-REVIEW
The state Department of Commerce has awarded up to $6.5 million to Catholic Charities Eastern Washington to purchase the Quality Inn on Sunset Highway for emergency supportive housing for homeless people.
The project was one of several included in the city of Spokane’s proposal to spend upwards of $24 million in state funds to relocate hundreds living in the homeless encampment at East Second Avenue and Ray Street, also known as Camp Hope.
The Department of Commerce announced the $6.5 million award to Catholic Charities on Friday. The award is the only one to date for projects outlined in Spokane’s proposal.
Tedd Kelleher, managing director of the Housing Assistance Unit at the Department of Commerce, said the Department of Commerce felt the Catholic Charities proposal was a “lower risk, higher reward” project that the state could fund immediately given Gov. Jay Inslee’s direction to relocate people out of state rights of way as quickly as possible.
In particular, the project was “clearly one that fit well with the funding and the goal of the funding,” he said. Acquiring and remodeling motels or similar buildings for emergency housing is “a proven model” that’s much quicker than starting from scratch with constructing a new building, Kelleher said.
“Based on our conversations, there seems to be more community agreement on this proposal,” he said. “It’s one that there’s not a lot of controversy around.”
Asked what that community feedback was based on, Kelleher cited conversations with the city, providers and community members, particularly state Commerce employees who live in Spokane.
The Catholic Charities project, known as the Catalyst Project, was included in the city’s proposal submitted July 13 for an initial 30% of the $24 million.
The Catalyst Project would have 87 rooms that include beds and bathrooms, 14 of which would be for couples, according to a project description. The converted motel would be open to men and women.
The Commerce funding award dictates these rooms must be prioritized “to house people from state rights of way, but available to house other people with low incomes if the Department determines units are not needed for people living on state rights of way.”
Care services would include connections to behavioral health, primary care and public benefits, according to the Catholic Charities document. The site would also be monitored by a 24/7 security team, while residents would be expected to abide by a Good Neighbor Agreement.
According to the city’s proposal, Catholic Charities has committed to acquiring and rehabbing the motel within 90 days of the funding award.
The Catholic Charities project summary indicated that while the Catalyst Project is emergency housing, “it is not a walkup shelter, nor will it offer walkup services.”
Rooms would only be available through referral from local community partners for quick access when a person has no housing, according to the organization.
“The time that guests may stay in this housing is not limited, but it is not intended to be a permanent home,” the summary reads. “Instead, it offers essential amenities, such as safe, private, dignified spaces where people may temporarily live while searching and preparing for permanent housing.”
When reached Friday night, a Catholic Charities spokesperson said the organization was preparing a statement and information for release Monday.
The Department of Commerce has previous experience with Catholic Charities as a provider, given that the organization has received Housing Trust Fund money in the past.
“We know that they can do this work, so we went ahead,” he said. “There’s always some risk with all of these endeavors, but when we’re balancing setting aside from our normal processes and trade for going more quickly, this is definitely a lower-risk piece that feel we can move forward on.”
The Department of Commerce sought proposals from five counties, including Spokane, through the Rights of Way initiative, offering shares of $144 million toward relocating people out of state rights of way and into better living situations. Spokane leaders submitted their proposal Thursday for the full $24.3 million offered by the Department of Commerce.
Camp Hope, with more than 600 residents, is regarded as the largest of such encampments on any right of way in the state.
“We’re likely to move on pieces separately. We’re not going to award everything all at once,” Kelleher said. “We don’t want to delay on things that we can move forward on immediately.” Greg Mason can be reached at (509) 459-5047 or gregm@spokesman. com.
KREM
The proposal details how Spokane County leaders could use $24.3 million in state funding to house people at the homeless encampment off of I-90.
SPOKANE, Wash. — With the deadline looming, local leaders say they have a plan to deal with the growing homeless camp off I-90 and Freya.
The proposal details how Spokane County leaders could use $24.3 million in state funding to house people at the homeless encampment off of I-90.
Couples at the camp say the don't want to be at a shelter if they can't be together.
"We had to go somewhere that we could be together," I-90 camper Nicholas Pillar said. "That's a big thing for us, we have to be together and so we thought Tent City would be our best option."
Spokane County leaders are proposing 60 two-person pods in the East Trent shelter. That would be in addition to 120 beds, which would house up to 240 people.
"It would mean just to be able to get on our feet," Pillar said. "To find long term housing."
Another option is for Catholic Charities to purchase the Quality Inn on Sunset Highway and turn it into a shelter. People say they would consider living in an apartment-style shelter over the state-owned land near I-90.
"In a hotel, you got direct bathroom, you can shower, bathe, you got electricity, you got heat," I-90 camper Willie Cody Jr. said. "Out here, you're just camping out here. Out here, you're just surviving."
Private shelter housing would give them a greater sense of ownership and security.
"Something we can have as our own space," Pillar said. "Not somewhere that if we leave for a night or two, we don't come back to our tent gone or someone living in it... a real home and a stable environment."
The building could have space for 110 people within 90 says of funding. The hotel also has the potential to become permanent housing. There's also a possibility for a rental assistance on R-V campgrounds for people living in R-Vs.
At last count, almost 600 people were living in the homeless encampment. According to the City, a deadline has not been established for reviewing or approving the plan. But, if the county gets the funding, action would be expected by August.
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The Center Square
A large homeless camp has been set up on state Department of Transportation land along East Second Avenue in Spokane. Called “Camp Hope," the site has drawn 400 to 500 people. Spokane County has been offered $24.3 million by the state Department of Commerce to relocate people from the camp to shelters and other locations.
(The Center Square) – Spokane agencies and service partners had 30 days to figure out how to spend $24.3 million in state funds to relocate people out of a large homeless encampment on state land next to Interstate 90.
On Thursday, officials from the City of Spokane and Spokane County, in collaboration with other agencies and service providers, scrambled to put the final touches on a proposal for the Department of Commerce.
That plan seeks $34.5 million to house 1,447 people if all projects are approved by Commerce.
The money was originally offered by the state agency only to get people moved out of Camp Hope. That encampment is located on Washington Department of Transportation property near the freeway and Freya Street.
Spokane will take the lead on administrating the millions to enact whatever portion of the final plan that Commerce approves.
“We relied on previous collaborations and plans already in place to grow and build new partnerships that will move individuals from an inhumane outdoor environment into safe and healthy spaces,” said Spokane Mayor Nadine Woodward in a written statement on Thursday. “Working together, we came up with a very solid, comprehensive plan in a very short amount of time.”
The partners submitted an initial request for the first 30% of original funding last week. That money would be used, in part, for assessments on the needs of Camp Hope residents conducted by multiple local agencies. These assessments would be used to help build trust and match an individual with the best housing solution, say local officials.
In addition, a former Sunset Highway motel would be purchased and retrofitted into permanent housing for up to 110 people.
Dollars were also requested to purchase 30 two-person living pods to create private space inside the new shelter on Trent Avenue. That request has doubled in the full proposal.
The final request allows for additional improvements to the city's new Trent Avenue shelter, such as permanent showers, restrooms and laundry facilities.
Transportation to provide access to services and employment is also factored into the proposal.
Two more case workers would be added to Community Court to help people access services instead of being prosecuted for offenses. One worker would dedicate time to existing shelters.
If the final proposal is approved, existing buildings will be purchased and rehabilitated to provide affordable housing alternatives. Other options for permanent affordable housing will be explored.
Rental assistance will be made available for individuals and families with working RVs to cover space fees in existing campgrounds.
“It was critically important that we direct as much resource as possible to permanent housing,” Woodward said. “Emergency shelters meet an immediate need, but the long-term solution is more permanent housing.”
A deadline has not been established for reviewing and approving the plan, but the request for proposals from Commerce included an expectation of significant action beginning in August.
“The Commerce funds give us a unique opportunity to provide our houseless residents with beds, doors for privacy and security, bathrooms with running water and comprehensive services that will support their transition into permanent housing,” Spokane City Council President Breean Beggs said in a written statement. “For too long the lack of financial resources and political will has led too many of us to accept less than the basics of human dignity, and the collaboration between the mayor and council will propel our entire community forward.”
The city council is expected to consider the contract for the Trent shelter operator on Monday. It has already approved zoning and lease considerations for the shelter. Tenant improvements are already in progress and the shelter is expected to open in August.
“Our goal is to meet the campers where they are at in their individual journeys by providing services that help them take their next safe, healthy, and humane steps toward exiting homelessness,” Woodward said.