‘All the supplies they need’: Jewels Helping Hands opens day center for homeless people

Jewels Helping Hands is bringing its homeless outreach inside.

The nonprofit opened a new day center Wednesday aimed at mirroring many of the services it already provides on the street.

Inside the facility at 1819 E. Springfield Ave., people will be able to have a multitude of basic needs met between 9 a.m. and 5 p.m., Monday through Friday.

The nonprofit will serve a daily sack lunch and houses a food bank and a clothing bank . It also plans to offer guests facilities to do laundry and shower.

“Here, they can get all the supplies they need,” said Julie Garcia, founder of Jewels Helping Hands.

Office space has been set aside in which people can meet with other social service providers.

The facility includes a calming room, set aside for people in need of a space in which to relax. It also features a community conference room for meetings.

The center is paid for through donations to Jewels Helping Hands. It does not receive any government funding.

“It’s been a community effort,” Garcia said.

It was all pieced together in just a few weeks.

“This is the same model we’ve had for a really long time,” Garcia explained. “This took us about three weeks to get it up and running. Everything here, we’ve been doing, just outside.”

The location is outside the downtown core, in the Chief Garry Park neighborhood, but is just a couple blocks away from a Spokane Transit Authority bus stop. Garcia hopes that it shows homeless service providers can be good neighbors.

“It’s really the only one that was available,” Garcia said.

The nonprofit signed a six-month lease to start. Garcia said its future would depend on how utilized and successful the center is.

In past winters, Jewels Helping Hands has operated temporary overnight shelters. That isn’t in the cards this year.

“At this point we believe other folks need to step up and be that low-barrier shelter area, and we’re hoping that they do,” Garcia said.