SPOKANE, Wash. — The City of Spokane announced that an additional 105 low-barrier shelter spaces are now temporarily available for adults.
Those locations include 75 spaces at Truth Ministries, 12 spaces at Union Gospel Mission and 18 at Salvation Army's "The Way Out" shelter.
Outreach teams and public safety staff will also distribute bus passes to anyone needing a ride to a shelter.
There are now a total of 835 spaces available city wide. Of those spaces, 530 are low-barrier shelters.
Spokane City Council President Breean Beggs said he believes the city's response to homelessness this year is an improvement from last year.
"I think it's more organized and organized ahead of time," Beggs said. "And we have the ability to flex when we need to."
City spokesperson Brian Coddington said several spaces have still not been used. Last week alone, 292 family spaces remained available, he said.
"We still don't really know what the demand is," Beggs said. "Along with COVID came in economic slowdown, housing prices and rents are still high. So there's more people homeless we think than ever before. And it's just a little unclear what the demand is on a nightly basis."
Beggs added that the city is expected to launch a public dashboard for tracking available beds. This will also help police officers in directing people to specific shelters with available bedding.
"We're going to need to work with our shelter providers to make sure they're updating it in real time as opposed to once a day," Beggs said.
The Cannon Street Center is currently closed for renovations. It is expected to reopen this month, offering spaces for 80 adults.
Coddington said a new operator for the Cannon center will be selected later this week.
Previously, the city entered a seasonal shelter contract with Jewels Helping Hands, which ended in April.
Cannon reopened in May as a regional health shelter site during the Stay Home, Stay Healthy order. Cannon then closed again at the end of May for planned renovations.
The city partners with Spokane County, Spokane Valley and the Spokane Regional Health District to operate the building.