SPOKANE, Wash. – Several weeks after presenting a draft ordinance to Spokane City Council to ban public camping and give officers discretion to arrest those who refuse services, that ordinance will be discussed in City Council committee on Monday.
According to Zappone, little has changed from the Mayor’s original draft, which included a city-wide ban on camping. In a press conference, Mayor Lisa Brown explained that an officer could “leverage the arrest” to direct homeless individuals to services.
One of those services, Spokane’s new daytime navigation center.
Open from 8:30 a.m. to 5:30 p.m. seven days a week, the Founder of Jewel’s Helping Hands Julie Garcia says the navigation center provides access to shelters, healthcare, shower and laundry services.
“More than 40% of the people using our navigation center have been placed directly into services and housing,” Mayor Brown said in her Annual Statement of Conditions and Affairs on October 20.
However, its closure at night poses a challenge for homeless individuals.
During a special presentation to Spokane City Council, Councilman Zack Zappone asked, “What happens at night when you close?”
Garcia explained that transportation is provided to move individuals to safer locations.
“That’s the best we can do, is hope to mitigate the camping and staying next to our shelter,” Garcia said.
The center’s security visits throughout the night and helps move campers to safer places, but Garcia acknowledged that finding shelter beds is challenging.
“We have been able to move people in that wherever they’re staying, going out and helping them figure out how they can be less seen,” Garcia said.
Garcia also explained that there has been demand for the Navigation services.
“We’ve been at capacity every single day almost all of the shift,” Garcia said.
While the navigation center is a primary resource, other nonprofits in Spokane provide outreach services with different hours.
Non Stop Local also reached out to Spokane Police on their policy for dealing with homeless individuals during the overnight hours when outreach centers are closed.
They provided a statement, saying:
“All the involved parties are working to establish a protocol for after hours contacts with homeless. The hope is to have them to the shelter prior to end of business to allow for services and or additional networking.”
