Spokane Homeless Connect delayed over omicron concerns

Spokane’s annual Homeless Connect, a one-stop-shop for homeless services, will be delayed due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

The event, previously slated for Jan. 27, has been rescheduled for March 1 after organizers consulted with local health officials and discussed the danger posed by the omicron variant of the coronavirus.

The hope is for the local surge in COVID-19 cases to slow by the new date.

This marks the second consecutive year in which the event has been hampered by the pandemic, as last year’s Homeless Connect – which would have been the 10th – was entirely canceled.

The event features a slate of service providers. In 2020, the last event before the pandemic, almost 1,200 people walked through the door.

Event organizers expect more people to access Homeless Connect than ever before. This year, more than 2,000 people are expected to access services, according to Kari Stevens, chair of the Connect Organizing Committee.

“We’ve got an awful lot more people, families, sleeping in cars, RVs and doubled up with others,” Stevens said.

But with that many people comes risk, even with strict masking and social distancing guidelines.

“This is definitely one of those events that needs to be conducted in-person. There’s no way to scale it back, make it smaller – the idea behind it is to have as many services as possible,” Stevens said, adding that people who are homeless often don’t have the time or resources to travel between service providers.

“We try to manage all of it in one place,” Stevens said.

The event will be held at the Spokane Convention Center.