SPOKANE, Wash. — The City of Spokane detailed on Monday its plans to ensure the safety and well-being of vulnerable residents during inclement weather. Though the plan lacked many key details.
One major point missing from the city's inclement weather strategy is a list of cold weather shelter locations.
"That's what the RFP will finalize," said Dawn Kinder back on October 4 when KREM 2 News first started questioning about the warming shelter plan.
Kinder, the director of Neighborhood, Housing and Human Services, told KREM 2 at the time those requests for proposals (RFP) would go out October 7 and be finalized around October 23 by the board of Community, Housing and Human Services.
According to the city's own documentation, applications for the RFPs don't close until October 20.
While its press release said 357 surge beds from six different providers were identified across Spokane County, questions from KREM 2 revealed not all of those will be used this winter.
Erin Hut, spokesperson for Mayor Lisa Brown's office, told us by email the city can only afford to fund 100 beds for 38 nights.
"We have $250,000 per year to spend on inclement weather which includes of course the cold season but also the heat season and smoke, so it's woefully insufficient," Kinder said October 4.
As KREM 2 learned and later reported, the city's plan will utilize existing shelter space instead of setting up new pop up sites to respond to freezing weather. That's a first and is, as Kinder explained, an effort to save time and money.
“True preparedness means planning ahead for the safety and dignity of our unsheltered neighbors, not scrambling to react to weather crises that we know come every year. By taking a holistic approach to the inclement weather plan, we are building a sustainable system and coordinating with various service providers to be ready to go when the cold, heat and smoke arrive,” Mayor Lisa Brown said.
Mayor Brown also said that she will propose an increase in funding in the 2025-2026 biennial budget to meet the needs of those living unsheltered during extreme weather.
Some of the existing shelters that responded to a request for information (RFI) this fall were Revive Reentry, The Salvation Army, Family Promise, and Catholic Charities.
“On behalf of Catholic Charities, we would like to extend our support and recognition of the City of Spokane’s commitment to providing vital inclement weather beds for the 2024/2025 season,” said Sharon Stadelman, Chief Crisis & Shelter Officer for Catholic Charities. “We recognize the need for such services far exceeds available funding and resources, and are grateful to see the city prioritizing these efforts. Providing long-term solutions for our community's most vulnerable members during inclement weather is critical, and we hope that future allocations can expand to meet the growing needs of those who rely on these essential services to survive. We remain eager to collaborate and support these efforts.”
Under Spokane's own municipal law, the city has to publish and disseminate an emergency shelter plan, including names and locations of centers, center capacity, and a publicity/communication plan for the vulnerable or unhoused to know where to go when inclement weather hits. By law that should be done no later than September 30.
When asked where the plan had been publicly released, Hut responded it was in the RFI and RFP.
"The emergency shelter plan has been presented to the City Council, Homeless Coalition, Continuum of Care, CHHS Board and to various provides throughout September," her email said.
However, when KREM 2 asked Maurice Smith of the Homeless Coalition about what he knew of the plan, he said they had also not been told which sites would serve as emergency shelters. He's preparing for temperatures to possibly reach the 32 degree emergency threshold by this week, with nowhere to refer his unhoused clients.
KREM 2 News is continuing to push the city for answers, as are homeless service providers and advocates.