SPOKANE, Wash. — The Spokane City Council passed a package of ordinances providing 165 additional bed spaces in emergency warming centers this winter.
The package of ordinances will provide 120 single adult spaces and 45 family spaces in emergency warming shelters. The total cost of the funding request is $995,841.
The package was approved 6-0, with councilor Mike Fagan absent.
One warming center will be placed at 527 South Cannon Street and will cost $5,500 a month to lease, according to city documents.
The shelter has a capacity of up to 70 homeless children and their parents. Once the project is fully complete, it will be able to serve 120 people.
Another will be operated by either Jewels Helping Hands or The Salvation Army and would "add additional capacity for the coordinated homeless crisis response system for up to 120 single adult men and women."
"We're about a trauma base program. What we really believe is trauma is the gateway to drug abuse and alcohol abuse and some causes of homelessness," said Founder of Jewels Helping Hands Julie Garcia.
Garcia said the organization has already served thousands of meals in the Spokane community and provided showers with their mobile station.
"One of the key things that's important to us is wrap around services. We partner with anyone who will partner with us in the city and to come in and address the captive audience we're going to have the next six months," she said.
According to the city's ordinance, the Salvation Army would be ready for full operations here in five to six weeks.
Garcia said Jewels Helping Hands could be ready in about two weeks. They even have 240 mattresses donated from Fairchild Air Force base all ready to be used.
"We're actually able to start as soon as possible. just getting this space ready for people to come in correctly, getting our dumpsters delivered, our storage containers delivered," she said.
This would be a 24/7 facility and will run for six months, costing the city $740,000. Of this, $240,000 is already available, according to city documents.
Unspent funds from this shelter would be returned to the city's general fund.
The 45 family shelter beds would be operated as overflow space provided by Catholic Charities at their Rising Strong facility, according to documents, which is expected to be open by November. This part of the request totals $495,841.
The fourth part of the package will go to Hope House for daytime warming space for women, and will cost $28,050.
The following video is a report on Spokane leaders looking at potential warming center locations.