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Pastor responds to church warming shelter stabbing

Early Wednesday morning, a woman staying at the church’s warming shelter stabbed a staffer with a pair of scissors, police said.

SPOKANE, Wa. –Westminster Congregation Church’s pastor held a hopeful attitude regarding Wednesday’s stabbing at the church.

Early Wednesday morning, a woman staying at the church’s warming shelter stabbed a staffer with a pair of scissors, police said.

But CastroLang said that even though it was an unfortunate incident, it shouldn’t stop the church from opening its doors to those who need its help.

“We gotta keep doing this,” she said.

But the church has made some changes to its procedures.

The church is contracted with the Guardians Foundation, a company that provides staffers for the warming shelter.

After the incident, the foundation added another staffer to help escort people in and out of the building.

The workers have started arriving at the church at 7:30 every night, an hour and a half before the shelter opens, instead of thirty minutes early like they were before Wednesday.

“Both in the evening and in the morning, we’re working with folks around the neighborhood as well as homeless folks themselves so that they feel safe,” CastroLang said.

She said city representatives have also been in close contact with her since the incident.

"I feel very encouraged, because the city's been very helpful,” she said. “The community around the homeless warming centers has been very helpful, and we're trying to move forward.”

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