SPOKANE, Wash. — Mayor Lisa Brown announced a new comprehensive homeless plan for the city of Spokane Thursday morning.
At a press conference, multiple ordinances were announced that are being introduced across the city of Spokane.
The first, Home Starts Here, is an initiative that “meaningfully addresses complex factors” related to homelessness. It establishes ways to measurably reduce the housing burden for Spokane residents by adding housing units at all income levels, expanding home ownership rates in the city, and increasing or defending people’s access to healthcare in the city.
Other ordinances in this plan change the requirements for inclement weather centers and shelter sites while upholding good neighbor agreements within the areas where those shelters are located.
Councilmember Zack Zappone said this ordinance would make it so inclement weather centers would take into account how the weather feels, whether it be too hot or too cold, rather than the actual measurable temperature to better protect our homeless population.
The Spokane Police Department also announced at this press conference that part of this plan will be to combine the existing camping enforcement laws and expand enforcement citywide instead of largely focusing on the downtown area.
SPD said it would also work within the enforcement to connect people with wraparound services to get them into housing or treatment so they are “not just moved from one area to the next.”
Mayor Brown said this is not the stopping point and “there will be additional measures.”
Right now, city officials are working to gather data to continue improving access to care and reducing the homelessness crisis.
This includes allocating new opioid settlement dollars to invest in navigation and treatment services across the city, including investing funds into Maddie’s Place.
These ordinances, which were created in collaboration with the city council, will soon be discussed in committee and public hearings across the city.
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