Veteran of HUD, city of Spokane tapped as Woodward’s next leader of housing, homelessness initiatives

Spokane Mayor Nadine Woodward has tapped a veteran of the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development as the next director of a division tasked with addressing housing and homelessness issues.

Kimberly McCollim is Woodward’s nominee to lead the city’s Neighborhood, Housing and Human Services division. Her nomination will go before the Spokane City Council at its next planned meeting Nov. 7.

McCollim, who has spent nearly 20 years working for the Seattle Regional Office of HUD, will lead a division that has seen frequent turnover and has become the focus of public scrutiny as City Hall develops policies intended to help those living on the streets find permanent housing. Her predecessor, John Hall, left the position after just three months on the job, leaving behind a memo warning the city needed to work faster to secure federal assistance for housing while also highlighting acrimony between municipal branches of government.

While with HUD, McCollim was the site lead for what became known as the Spokane EnVision Center, a centralized location for social services at 130 S. Arthur St. now known as the Resource Center of Spokane County. She also served as the homeless liaison for the agency in Eastern Washington and Washington state, according to a resume provided by the mayor’s office. McCollim helped establish the city’s Homeless Management Information System, which tracks data related to the city’s homeless population and what assistance is available.

Before joining the federal government, McCollim was an assistant director of human services for the city from 1995 to 2003. She has a master’s in urban and regional planning from Eastern Washington University, a bachelor’s in sociology from Gonzaga University and an associate degree from Spokane Falls Community College.