SPOKANE, Wash. – The City of Spokane is moving forward to ramp down on emergency warming shelters and will launch an audit process to assess shelter capacity among regional providers.
The Cannon Street warming center will close the morning of March 1, making February 29 the last night of 7 p.m. to 7 a.m. warming services. The TRAC shelter will ramp down from 350 beds to 250 beds on March 1. The shelter has been operating at or around 250 beds for nearly two weeks in alignment with City direction to ramp down congregate shelter space. The City will extend its contract with Jewels Helping Hands to continue maintaining shelter services at local churches, which accounts for 80 total beds.
The city also kicked off its efforts for a complete shelter audit earlier in the week and the Community of Housing and Human Services is working with area non-profits and services to assess their needs.
This audit will also include community discussion on how Spokane envisions its future shelter system.
“As the City and our regional provider network end cold-weather emergency services, we are starting the process of ensuring there are options in the shelter system that meet a diverse set of needs,” said Neighborhood, Housing and Human Services Director Dawn Kinder. “Our goal is for our clients to experience safety and dignity in a variety of shelter settings and we are looking forward to working with our partners to develop recommendations leading a new approach to shelter and services.”
