SPOKANE, Wash. — Outreach programs are gearing up for what they expect to be a long and cold winter.
As temperatures fall, shelter beds will quickly fill and that’s concerning for homeless activists in Spokane.
“Our job is to come out here and serve people where they are,” said Julie Garcia of Jewels Helping Hands.
There are some people who do not understand what the homeless go through daily. There are medical needs that go unmet and several days can go by before finding a shower. It's often a challenge just to get their next meal.
“We’re making sure they stay alive, that they have food, that they have medical, that they have supplies and it’s getting cold,” Garcia said.
Last winter, Garcia ran the Cannon Street Warming Center. Hundreds of people escaped freezing temperatures at the facility.
She knows who needs help the most and has dedicated her life to being a voice for those unable to speak up.
Jewels Helping Hands won't be running a city-funded shelter this year but the organization's work continues in many different ways. Outreach efforts include portable showers and meal opportunities. Volunteers are accompanied by health experts three days out of the week.
“I’m a firm believer that basic needs are not a level where we can ask for accountability. Those are just things that we have to have to survive," Garcia said.
For Garcia, it’s not about enabling anyone. It’s something she believes is her calling. She and the other volunteers don’t get paid for community cleanups, but the reward from treating others with respect and love is what continues their drive.
When winter formally arrives, they’ll keep working to make sure no shelter bed in Spokane goes unused while pushing for more resources.
“They’re the people that are truly suffering through this pandemic,” Garcia said.
“We as an organization have just decided that we’re going to serve our community. Every aspect of it from the people who have houses all the way down to people who sleep in tents," she said.