SPOKANE, Wash. — After Spokane City Council approved a $1.6 million contract on Tuesday night, Revive Counseling is preparing to start services at the Trent Resource and Assistance Center (TRAC).
Revive Counseling is a behavioral support organization that has been in Spokane since 2017. The organization will operate what’s called “wrap-around” services, serving behavioral and social needs. They were the only organization to submit a proposal to offer these services to people experiencing homelessness.
Staff with Revive Counseling is already working at the I-90 homeless encampment with the goal of moving people to the Trent Shelter.
“Every single person at Revive and in our office comes from some background of lived experience," said Breianna Gorder, the program manager for Revive Counseling. "So we know that sense of desperation of getting out of your situation. We’re able to have that opportunity to not only work for the people but work alongside them as they figure their lives out."
With the funds from the city, Revive Counseling hopes to help people find jobs and transition out of homelessness. They also focus on mental health counseling and addiction treatment.
“My ultimate vision with this project is to reduce the recidivism of people going back into homelessness and eventually reach functional zero," Gorder said. "And by having dedicated staff there all the time, we will be able to meet that goal.”
In Revive Counseling’s proposal to the city, its goal is to get 50% of its clients into long-term transitional housing. However, Revive said this could take up to two years with the number of resources they have.
Revive Counseling said its mission is to serve people’s best interests.
“I tell a lot of the people that I serve that they’re really in charge of where the situation goes,” Gorder said. “That is the most important piece of working with this population is that they know everything they do is supported by us.”
Revive Counseling will not force people who live at the I-90 homeless encampment to move into the shelter, but they will give those people other support options if they choose to take it.
The contract between Revive and the city has not been signed yet, but they hope to be fully operational at the shelter by the first week of November.
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