![]() ![]() Julie Garcia of Jewels Helping Hands, a nonprofit contracted by the state to manage the encampment, said more than 100 residents have transferred to housing, but more time is needed to find places for nearly 450 residents still on site. That has included contracting with several nonprofits for outreach to the unhoused, including running the Camp Hope encampment - and funding Catholic Charities of Eastern Washington's effort to purchase and renovate a former motel into housing. Through this program, the Department of Transportation, in collaboration with other agencies including the state Department of Commerce and Washington State Patrol, has worked with service providers to maintain services, such as mental and physical health care, clothing and food, at Camp Hope and with residents to get them into transitional or permanent housing.Ībout $25 million in state dollars is available for various housing solutions. That made the encampment eligible for funding through the state’s Right of Way Initiative, which aims to help move residents living in state-owned right-of-ways into housing. The encampment was moved to its current location in the East Central neighborhood, on property owned by the state Department of Transportation. Low-barrier shelter has become the standard nationally, as homelessness service providers adopt the “housing first” model first developed in Seattle and elsewhere. In late 2021, homeless residents camped outside Spokane’s City Hall to protest the lack of “low-barrier” beds - those that allow people to come in without requirements, such as identification or proof of sobriety. The point-in-time count also showed that 823 - or 47% - of the 1,757 homeless residents counted were living outside of emergency or traditional shelters.Ĭamp Hope started as a protest over the lack of available shelter beds. ![]() “I know the neighborhood wants the camp gone and addressed swiftly, but we’re not addressing it swiftly unless we address why these folks are homeless,” McGlenn said. He also doesn’t like local officials’ lack of will to get past political arguments and do the hard work of crafting solutions. The encampment has hurt the neighborhood - namely, in declining business activity, as residents and visitors express safety concerns over the encampment’s presence, McGlenn said.īut McGlenn said while there is strong support from some neighbors and the business community to clear out the encampment, others believe that is not a perfect solution either, especially if it means Camp Hope’s residents disperse to other neighborhoods around the city. Those in the neighborhood feel caught in the middle, said McGlenn, who moved out of the area a year ago but still runs his computer business there. 20 letter to Johnnie Perkins, city administrator for Spokane. Acting on the city’s ill-considered demand solves nothing for anyone,” Transportation Secretary Roger Millar, Commerce Secretary Lisa Brown and Washington State Patrol Chief John Batiste wrote in a Sept. Meanwhile, leaders from the state agencies, including the Department of Transportation - owners the property on which Camp Hope sits - are not mincing words on their concern over the city and county’s actions.Ĭlearing out Camp Hope prematurely “will simply force the most vulnerable to relocate to other city, county, state and private property within the area. ![]() Local government leaders, including Mayor Nadine Woodward and Spokane County Sheriff Ozzie Knezovich, have declared the encampment a nuisance and are working to clear it within the next few weeks. ![]()
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