Jennifer Cerecedes to lead city housing, homelessness services

It’s been a tumultuous year for housing and homeless services in the city of Spokane.

But 2022 is already looking different, with a new leader set to take the helm in January.

Jennifer Cerecedes was nominated by Mayor Nadine Woodward as director of the Community, Housing and Human Services Department and confirmed by the Spokane City Council on Dec. 13.

“Despite the challenges that have happened, I did feel excited about the opportunity to come in and make a difference in the community,” Cerecedes said.

In her new role, Cerecedes will oversee a department that manages millions of dollars of funding for homelessness and affordable housing programs.

Woodward and council members don’t always see eye-to-eye when it comes to the department and programs it oversees, but both sang Cerecedes’ praises this week.

Cerecedes’ hire comes at a time of upheaval and turnover in the housing department. Its former director, Timothy Sigler, left this spring, as did senior manager Tija Danzig. Several other employees followed suit, leaving a slew of vacancies and prompting Woodward to form a “strike team” of top administration officials to right the ship.

Cerecedes will join the city in January and brings a decade of experience in homelessness and transitional housing programs at Spokane Neighborhood Action Partners (SNAP), followed by several years in the private sector.

“I thought she was great the first time I met her,” Woodward said, adding that a member of the CHHS staff was supportive of the hire.

Cerecedes joined SNAP in 2002 and quickly rose through the ranks. She taught life skills classes for the agency’s homeless services department before becoming a case manager, then a program manager.

In 2013, she joined Clearwater Paper, where she held a number of positions, including in human resources, purchasing and marketing.

She oversaw more than $3 million in grants for SNAP and funds much larger than that at Clearwater Paper.

In her new role for the city, she wants to marry her one-on-one experience providing homeless services with the fiscal know-how attained in both the nonprofit and private sector.

“I think that having done case management is an asset because I know what it’s like to work with folks who are in need of services, and I know some of the challenges that come into place when you’re trying to connect them to services,” Cerecedes said.

It’s been nearly a decade since Cerecedes worked in housing and homelessness. There have been “a lot of positives” in the response to homelessness, Cerecedes said, including the formation of partnerships with other regional governments.

“I think that some aspects of homelessness have become more visible, I don’t necessarily know that there is more of it,” Cerecedes said.

Woodward credited Cerecedes with jumping back into the realm of housing and homelessness.

“To get back into that arena, as challenging as it is, and even knowing what is going on in CHHS, the fact that she wanted to come in and tackle that takes a lot of courage,” Woodward said.

City Council members also expressed optimism that Cerecedes will help get the housing and human services department back on track.

“Let’s make sure she gets what she needs to do her job,” said Councilwoman Lori Kinnear.

Council President Breean Beggs was among those impressed with Cerecedes’ professional experience in the nonprofit and private sector. She “brings those two together to be very effective and very caring,” Beggs said.

The position atop Cerecedes was also left vacant this year following the abrupt departure of former Neighborhood, Housing and Human Services Director Cupid Alexander.

That role has been filled on an interim basis by Eric Finch, the city’s chief innovation and technology officer.

The city has filled four other vacancies in the CHHS department in recent weeks. It is actively recruiting for two program manager positions.

Cerecedes will play a key role in filling out the staffing in the department, according to city spokesman Brian Coddington.

“We definitely have some tenured employees who have been holding the ship together,” Cerecedes said.