SPOKANE, Wash. — A new center will provide a hub of resource to Spokane residents who are homeless, financially struggling, or otherwise trying to get back on their feet.
The EnVision Center is a project long in the works to provide one hub where numerous organizations can offer their services to those who need them.
Those services are being classified in one of seven categories: housing, cultural resources, finance, pre-employment, justice, health, and basic needs.
When someone arrives at the center, a staffer will help them figure out what their most important needs are, then direct them to the appropriate providers.
Some of the providers already committed in some way to the Envision Center: Spokane Workforce Development Council, Spokane Housing Authority, Revive Reentry, Goodwill, The Arc of Spokane, SNAP, Career Path Services, Partners with Families & Children, CHAS, WorkSource, Compass Career Solutions, Frontier Behavioral Health, Pioneer Human Services, Center for Justice, Catholic Charities, and World Relief.
Some specific examples of potential services: workshops on money management, help enrolling in health insurance or dealing with Medicare/Medicaid, access to professional clothing, and guidance on re-integrating with the community for those who've had run-ins with the law.
Spokane’s EnVision Center is one of 18 throughout the United States. EnVision is a federal program run by the Department of Housing and Urban Development.
Spokane has been working for years to create some sort of integrated services center; HUD granted designation for Spokane’s EnVision Center demonstration site in the spring of 2018. Since then, a project team has established a service provider group consisting of over 15 providers that will work together to establish the center and pilot the concept over 18 to 24 months, according to Community Housing and Human Services Director Kelly Keenan.
The center is in the final stages before opening for walk-in appointments in March 2019. During the time before the grand opening, center staff will meet several times a week for training led by the site coordinator.
The center will not take walk-in appointments during training. Once the center opens, clients will be able to access it from 9 AM until 5 PM. It is located on the second floor of the WorkSource building at 130 S Arthur St.
As for funding, a large portion of the money is being drawn from the federal Community Development Block Grant. $192,000 per year of city money will be used to pay rent on the property, according to Alex Reynolds, one of the project managers.
The center joins the city’s Give Real Change campaign and “Hope Works” program.
The Give Real Change campaign includes orange parking meters throughout the city where you can donate to end homelessness.
“Hope Works” is a program available that “gives dignity through work,” Condon said in May. A social worker picks up homeless individuals who want a work experience and they then get paid a stipend for their work.
The Spokane City Council passed an ordinance in December allocating roughly a quarter of a million dollars of funding for warming shelters in the city. This comes after demonstrators demanding the city provide more shelter space for homeless residents.
More than $250,000 went toward staffing a warming shelter for homeless young adults ages 18 to 24 at Westminster United Church of Christ. More than $16,000 covered funding for a warming shelter at Salem Lutheran Church.
Another warming center operated by the Salvation Army recently opened at the old National Furniture Store on Elmira Avenue.
In late December, Catholic Charities announced they are beginning construction on two new apartment complexes for 100 chronically homeless residents in Spokane.