SPOKANE, Wash. — The new homeless shelter on Trent Avenue in Spokane has been in the works for more than a year, and the shelter will officially open its doors on Tuesday.
However, the project is far from finished.
It is still unclear how many people who are currently staying at the homeless encampment on I-90 and Freya Street will go to the shelter. Spokane Mayor Nadine Woodward said the new facility is meant to be another option for those campers, but added it isn't the solution to clear out the camp.
KREM 2 had the chance to speak with Mayor Woodward during a tour of the shelter. This is the first time anyone has had a chance to view the inside of the shelter.
First look: Trent homeless shelter
Below is a full transcript of the interview.
Whitney Ward
Do you have indoor plumbing yet?
Mayor Nadine Woodward
Inside plumbing for the offices.
Whitney Ward
So not yet for showers or restrooms?
Mayor Nadine Woodward
No. You can see the Porta Potties right here. There will be a dozen Porta Potties, two ADA compliant. And we will have shower trailers out here.
Whitney Ward
Is that going to be the permanent solution? Or is this just temporary?
Mayor Nadine Woodward
It's temporary. We are hoping that Commerce will fund restrooms that would be constructed inside, along with laundry facilities.
Whitney Ward
How much of the Commerce funding will eventually go toward this Trent facility?
Mayor Nadine Woodward
We don't know yet. So right now they're looking at a reimbursement program. They want to make sure that the people who are coming here are coming from the encampment on the WSDOT property. That's not a permanent solution, so they won't get to stay there permanently.
Whitney Ward
What kind of outreach have you guys been doing already to try and entice some of those campers there? To get them here?
Mayor Nadine Woodward
Well, the outreach has been with the street teams, the outreach teams with different providers. But it's the assessment that will happen first. Some of them will be amenable to coming here. Some of them won't, but we do believe that once people start coming here and the outreach teams come here to see what we're offering that more people will accept the shelter as an option for them.
Whitney Ward
So clearly, this is just part of the equation with the ultimate goal, of course of trying to get that camp cleared out completely. What is the timeline for some of these other alternatives like the Sunset Hill project?
Mayor Nadine Woodward
Well, it sounds like as soon as the Quality Inn purchase closes, that would be transitioned within 60 days.
Whitney Ward
Do you think you're going to be able to enforce "sit and lie" after this?
Mayor Nadine Woodward
Oh, absolutely. And we are getting close with the council to move over the finish line and a revised illegal camping ordinance as well.
Whitney Ward
Do you feel like you and council are communicating well, and negotiating and compromising on that issue?
Mayor Nadine Woodward
There has been compromise because we had different ideas on what that should look like. But we have compromised and we've leaned in on the common ground. I think there's going to be more work to do. Even though this is a revised ordinance, it can be revised again as we move along and see if this is working. Is it enough? Are we seeing the impact that we want to? If not, we can go back to the table and talk about it.
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