Spokane picks service provider for Trent Avenue homeless shelter

Spokane has picked a service provider for the Trent Resource and Assistance Center, the city’s new homeless shelter on Trent Avenue.

The City Council on Monday unanimously approved a $1.6 million contract with Revive Counseling Spokane, a social service and behavioral health organization founded in 2017. The contract runs through 2023. No other organization submitted a proposal for the job.

Revive will provide “wrap-around” services to Trent shelter visitors that “include, but are not limited to, coordinated entry access point, outreach services, transportation, case management, and referrals for homeless and precariously housed persons,” according to City Council documents.

Revive will help people find jobs, housing, mental health counseling and addiction treatment.

Mayor Nadine Woodward said in an interview with The Spokesman-Review on Sept. 27 that Revive has been working with people living at Camp Hope, the large homeless encampment along Interstate 90 in east Spokane. The city is hoping to transition a significant percentage of Camp Hope’s residents to Trent.

“They’re creating relationships and building trust with the individuals in the encampment,” Woodward said. “For them to be able to continue it at Trent would be valuable.”

Spokane’s agreement with Revive includes a number of minimum performance standards. For instance, the city expects 50% of Revive’s clients to “exit” to long-term transitional housing, according to council documents.

With the Revive contract complete, Spokane now has a service provider and operator for the Trent shelter.

The City Council in August approved a $6.6 million contract with the Guardians Foundation to operate the facility. The Spokane Police Department is investigating the possible embezzlement of taxpayer funds by a Guardians Foundation employee