SPOKANE, Wash. — On Monday, the Spokane City Council approved more than $6 million in funding to keep the Trent Resource Center open through June. They also approved an application to the State Department of Commerce who is offering a $4 million grant to address homelessness.
Spokane becomes one of five counties across the state the Department of Commerce has prioritized to help get people out of homeless camps and into better living situations.
Spokane has been working with Spokane Valley for the past month to put together a proposal for the $4 million grant. Proposals are due Wednesday.
The plan on how they will use the money has not been made public. Councilman Jonathan Bingle told KREM 2 he only saw the list of projects and priorities for the first time on Monday. “"Some of them I think are very within what we as a city would normally approve, some things probably not, for various reasons," said Bingle.
Bingle says one proposal includes tiny homes. That is something that Jewels Helping Hands, which oversaw Camp Hope, has been requesting for years.
Bingle as well as other council members want to know if the city would have a final say in what projects would be funded if the grant is approved. He learned council members may not have that say. "In the end, the grant funder determines who gets the money and so if they don't like our request or anything like that, they don't have to take our proposal, they can go and give it to whoever they want and so while it was like yes, you can do this, it's kind of misleading because well yes, you can but they can just say forget you guys, we're going to do what we want," said Bingle
The State Department of Commerce says most of the funding must be used to increase shelter space and move individuals into permanent housing. The city and county are planning to submit their proposal by this Wednesday.
It is unclear when the state is expected to make a decision.
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