SPOKANE, Wash. – In West Hills, the future location of the New Roots Tiny Home Village remains controversial.
“I just don’t see how it is you guys are going to move something like this into a neighborhood,” Business owner Will Hulings said during Monday’s City Council Meeting.
But others support the initiative.
“I support new and innovative ways of housing,” another participant said.
The next step in New Roots Village, appointing an operator, which Spokane City Council did, with a 5 to 2 vote.
Spokane Compassionate Addiction Treatment (CAT) was recently contracted to operate the space, which should hold 30 individual pallet homes, communal kitchens and bathrooms.
“We will bring more than just 30 pallet homes. We will bring 30 opportunities for healing stability and belonging,” Interim Director of CAT Sandy Munck said during Council.
Munck also addressed concerns from the West Hills neighborhood.
“We also hear and understand the concerns of the West Hills neighborhood,” Munck said. “That’s why, if we get this opportunity, we are committed to being a good neighbor.”
Appointing an operator was not the only step forward for the New Roots village.
The Spokane City Council also agreed to enter the contract process to receive a little over $8 million from the Encampment Resolution Program (ERP).
The funds are earmarked for several organizations, with the New Roots Tiny Home Village receiving $575,000.
Councilman Jonathan Bingle highlighted the costs associated with the CAT project.
“The CAT project is $975,000 for 30 people,” Bingle said. “So we’re talking $32,500 per person.”
Councilmen Cathcart and Bingle noted that the $575,000 is only a portion of the total expected cost of about $1 million.
Proponents of the facility argue that the 30 pallet homes model may be more suitable than traditional larger shelters.
“[It] could be good for the people who are chronically homeless and they’re uncomfortable with being in that kind of shelter,” one commentor said.
