KHQ
Concerns raised over impression drug use, trash leaves on Spokane visitors
With graffiti, trash and open-air drug use visible, some Spokane residents worry that the city is not putting their best foot-forward as visitors flock to downtown Spokane for events like the NCAA tournament.
In 2024, Elizabeth Flett, a Spokane resident, voiced her concerns to NonStop Local and City Council members about trash and open-air drug use at A Place of Truths Plaza.
At that time, the city was working on cleaning up the graffiti and garbage at the plaza.
"There's still a lot of graffiti on the wall where they put up that anti-graffiti paint... A lot of people passed out sleeping. It's just really, it's sad. And the place is worn down and trashed," Flett said.
Flett believes that with trash and drug use so visible, it tarnishes the experience when people come to downtown Spokane.
"I've watched some of the girls looking out some of the windows at the convention center. Quite a few of the players. While the security, in their little golf cart, was escorting just three of the homeless people. But, they made such a big deal out of the way they did it, that everybody was up at the window watching it. It was... really sad. And that's their memory [when] they come to Spokane," Flett said.
Monday, NonStop Local sat down with Spokane Police Department Chief Kevin Hall and inquired about steps the department is taking to increase patrols throughout the CORE-area during the big events.
"I can tell you, a lot of effort went into this past weekend. And the weeks leading up to it. Particularly, with our business community downtown, with the Downtown Spokane Partnership and with other city departments," Chief Hall said.
Chief Hall told NonStop Local that open-air drug use is an issue that the city is working to tackle 24/7.
"For the vast majority of these cases, that's strictly drug use... It's a citation. It will not be accepted at jail. So, we do the best we can with the tools that we have. We've made over 160 arrests so far this year. So far, for open-air drug use," Chief Hall said.
Meanwhile, the Downtown Spokane Partnership (DSP) has teams in the downtown CORE 7 days per week to clean.
DSP's CEO, Emilie Cameron, told NonStop Local they also have a supplemental contract with the city that extends their services south to Third Avenue.
GoodGoodGood
Nonprofit uses board game, RPG simulator to help people better understand homelessness
A nonprofit in Mississippi is using board games and role-playing games to raise awareness about what it’s actually like to experience homelessness.
Brandi Herrington — the executive director of community nonprofit Starkville Strong — worked with college students at Mississippi State to develop a “true to life” board game called “Housing Hustle.”
“When I did a presentation for the students about our organization, there was a big information gap on the struggles and the different variables that lead to homelessness and being displaced,” Herrington told Good Good Good.
“After that conversation, we met throughout an entire semester. They developed a board game idea and we fleshed it out.”
In Housing Hustle, which is similar to The Game of Life, players encounter the good (a work bonus!) and bad (expensive car repairs) of daily living as they navigate the board.
“It's a board game in which you roll the dice, you move forward, and you pick up cards — some which are trivia about homelessness and some which are life events that affect your gameplay,” Herrington said.
To win Housing Hustle, players must race against the clock to find permanent housing.
“What we see happening is that, every single time, the winning player has a really large extendable income,” Herrington said. “And everyone else who's on living wage or minimum wage does not finish in time.”
First created in 2022, Housing Hustle is still a crucial educational resource for the nonprofit. Throughout the year, Starkville Strong regularly brings it out for their immersive “Homeless Experience” days.
Another game that Starkville Strong hosts is the Homeless Experience Simulation, a role-playing game which challenges players to find a job and secure housing in a room that simulates a small town.
“We give participants personas and stories, and at the start of the simulation, they're homeless,” Herrington said. “There are tables set up around the room with different resources, like government assistance, and employment opportunities.”
Based on a player’s randomly assigned persona, they’re either given an ID or forced to start from scratch.
“The first whammy that most of our clients deal with is that in order to apply for federal assistance or local resources for a job, you have to have an ID — which costs money,” Herrington explained.
“If you don't have money, you have to get a job, but you can't have a job if you don't have the money to get the ID. It’s a cycle. It shows that the process of deciding not to be homeless anymore is not a decision that evokes immediate results.”