Woodward administration calls for pause on choosing new Trent shelter operator

Spokane’s city administration has called for a pause in selecting the next operator of the region’s largest homeless shelter, citing uncertainties in funding sources and ongoing conversations about forming a regional coalition to coordinate homeless services.

Some are wary, however, that the brakes are being pulled shortly after a committee overwhelmingly voted to recommend Jewels Helping Hands, the organization that managed the Camp Hope homeless encampment. Mayor Nadine Woodward has repeatedly clashed with the organization’s founder, Julie Garcia, who Woodward has accused of coordinating with her election opponent, Lisa Brown, to create the encampment and keep it open.

The Trent Avenue shelter, which provides night-by-night shelter for up to 350 people, is operated by the Salvation Army for around $9 million through the end of the year.

That organization took over the contract in November following the late-October termination of a contract with the Guardians Foundation, due to concerns that an employee of the nonprofit may have embezzled as much as $1 million.

Due to how quickly a new operator was needed to take over for the Guardians Foundation last year, there was not a formal, competitive request for proposals. The city recently requested proposals from service providers that may continue the contract in 2024, particularly if the proposal could improve on the cost or level of service offered.

The Salvation Army and Jewels Helping Hands applied for that new contract, as did Hillyard Veterans of Foreign Wars Post 1474, whose commander, Mike Fagan, served on the Spokane City Council. That organization was considered too inexperienced for serious consideration by the committee reviewing proposals.

Jewels came out on top, according to committee members, in large part due to the depth of its network of agreements with other organizations and service providers, which are needed in order to provide support services at the shelter, as the facility is meant to be a brief stop on the path out of homelessness. Jewels Helping Hands also emphasized the dignity of those they served in their application and included money in its budget for addiction and mental health treatment, said Karen Ssebanakitta, a member of the city’s Community, Housing and Human Services Board, which was tasked with forwarding the committee’s recommendation to the City Council.

“It just seemed more robust, closer to the wraparound services we talk about,” Ssebanakitta said at a Wednesday board meeting.

In any case, the city administration is calling for a pause to the process until there is greater clarity about funding sources and about the formation of a regional organization to manage homeless services. Early proposals for that coalition have suggested that the costly Trent Avenue shelter may not be part of the region’s long-term plans. Meanwhile, the City Council has called for a slowdown in creating that organization.

In a Wednesday interview, Woodward said former Council President Breean Beggs had indicated he would be willing to support using more federal COVID-19 relief funds to fund the shelter through 2024, but since his departure, the appetite for such a use of one-time funds has waned.

“We thought we had an agreement with council,” Woodward said. “Those discussions need to continue.”