Maurice Smith <risingrivermedia@gmail.com> sends in:
I want to follow up on last Thursday's Spokane Homeless Coalition meeting. Barry Barfield sent out a meeting summary, including the complete video of the meeting. What I want to focus on is the topic of "Scattered Site Shelters." This concept of smaller, more focused shelters (20-to-30 guests), scattered throughout the community lies at the core of the City of Spokane's new approach to addressing homelessness. This new model represents an intentional move away from the large congregate shelter model that has been the standard approach of the past several years. Currently, this model is successfully working at the two Scattered Site Shelters operated by Jewels Helping Hands, which is what was presented at last Thursday's Coalition meeting (see the video link below). But in order for this approach to succeed on a community-wide basis, there are some obstacles that need to be addressed. Consider these:
Numbers - Shelter capacity in Spokane has always been a numerical challenge for policymakers (for whom undercounting people and overcounting capacity became somewhat of an art form). In round numbers, over the past 4 (+) years, Spokane has only had shelter capacity for 43-to-46% of the known and counted homeless population (Perhaps after the 2024 Point In Time results are released, I'll do an updated bed-to-people ratio analysis. Stay tuned). When it comes to Scattered Site shelters, consider these numbers. The current bed capacity at TRAC (according to ShelterMeSpokane) is 250 people. Assuming an average number of 25 people at a Scattered Site Shelter, that would require opening at LEAST ten (10) new shelters to accommodate the people currently sheltered at TRAC.
Timing - So much of life is about timing. While I'm personally enjoying the start of our amazing summer weather (Lake Coeur d'Alene was gorgeous on Saturday), I'm reminded that our average first frost is roughly 4 months away. How many Scattered Site Shelters are in the pipeline with a goal of being open by the start of freezing weather? And how long will it take to get them up an running? Timing . . .
Locations - As all of us who advocate for and serve the homeless community know, no one wants a homeless shelter in their neighborhood. Why? Because of the incessant drumbeat of negative optic, negative narrative, and negative tone about those experiencing homelessness that has been consistently fed to our community. If I believed everything I've read or heard about those experiencing homelessness, I wouldn't want "those people" in my neighborhood either. That's why, throughout my documentary work, I've consistently advocated for a better optic (what people see), a better narrative (the story people hear), and a better tone (building the Shalom of the homeless, rather than waging an us-against-them war of "revanchism" against them). Without building a better optic, a better narrative, and a better tone, finding multiple locations for multiple Scattered Site Shelters is going to be . . . a challenge.
Community Education and Involvement - The issue of "Location" inevitably leads us to the issue of educating our community on the truths about the Scattered Site Shelter model. As Julie points out in the attached video (see below), the long-term success of the model depends on widespread community support and practical involvement. One of the reasons (in my opinion) for the high cost of traditional city-sponsored congregate shelters is a lack of widespread community support or involvement. What could have been supplied via broad-based community support is compensated for with bloated budgets (yes, the TRAC shelter being the current poster child for this approach). Again, in my opinion, the future long-term success of the Scattered Site Shelter model will depend on our ability to build broad community support and involvement.
Scattered Site Shelter Video - To help address some of these barriers, particularly the Community Education & Involvement barrier, I've created a separate video of Julie Garcia's presentation about the two Scattered Site Shelters Jewels Helping Hands is currently operating. My thanks to Dan Simonson, who recorded the entire meeting, for sharing his original video file with me. I've edited and lightly produced it, and posted it on our YouTube Channel. I would encourage you to share this new piece with your own social media networks and email lists. It's how we proactively work to change our community understanding regarding how we as a community can meaningfully address homelessness. They won't know if you and I don't tell them.
Scattered Site Shelters Video -
Yours for the Shalom of Our Community,
Maurice Smith