SPOKANE, Wash. — Spokane County is facing a public health and safety crisis, and local leaders are calling for help to protect families and the community.
A new task force united law enforcement, nonprofits, private companies and elected officials to find solutions. The new ‘Safe and Healthy Spokane Task Force’ aims to speed up actions that improve public safety and health, possibly through ballot measures, ordinances or restructuring funding.
From hospitals to electric companies, stakeholders in Spokane say they can only thrive when its people thrive. But efforts to help people live better lives often stagnate when people disagree on what’s best.
“Whether it’s suffering behavioral health crisis or addiction. There definitely is a population that has significant needs around care,” said Matt Albright of Providence Inland Northwest.
Stakeholders in the task force include the city council, board of county commissioners, Providence and Avista. They all have different ways of finding solutions to improve Spokane.
“We really learned that by taking a comprehensive look at all of the pieces of the system, we could effect greater change together,” said Emilie Cameron of DSP.
By working together as a united team, the group believes they can create better solutions that will gain more support and funding.
“If you’ve got the city and the county and you’ve got Republicans and Democrats coming together to say, we agree that these are the investments that are going to make a difference. I’m very hopeful and excited about this effort,” said Spokane Mayor Lisa Brown.
The task force will meet monthly and gather input until May of next year to create a plan to improve Spokane County as a place to live and work. However, they say action could happen sooner.
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