The closure of beds without a replacement plan violated the City Council’s core policies to address homelessness, Spokane City Council President Breean Beggs said. Jewels, which served adult men and women, was regularly at or near its capacity in recent weeks. There was capacity Thursday night at the library shelter, where 46 out of a possible 59 guests slept.Īccording to its daily shelter capacity report, there were no beds available for adult men in city shelters as recently as Sunday, although the number of beds available citywide generally increased this week. The city anticipates that it will have adequate capacity to shelter the homeless, even with only the library space online, according to Coddington.

Together, the two spaces sleep more than 100 people a night. In the meantime, The Guardians has already taken over operation of a temporary shelter space at the downtown Spokane Public Library that was also operated by Jewels until Thursday. The city had expected to close the Cannon Street warming center this week and leave it vacant while it worked with regional partners to identify a new temporary shelter site during the COVID-19 pandemic.īut the city abruptly walked back its plans on Thursday, after a makeshift tent city arose in Coeur d’Alene Park, instead saying it would reopen the Cannon Street site under the watch of The Guardians Foundation as soon as Jewels removes its property from the building. “We do apologize to the guests that were disrupted yesterday and also the neighborhood around the park.” “The mayor apologized for the city’s contribution to the miscommunication,” Coddington said.

Mayor Nadine Woodward met with Jewels Helping Hands founder Julie Garcia on Friday morning and the two agreed on an orderly transition for the shelter’s new operator, The Guardians Foundation, which is expected to open on Saturday night, according to Coddington. Ultimately, police cleared the park on Thursday evening and directed people into available shelters without making any arrests, according to city spokesman Brian Coddington. Why can’t we get it right? Why can’t we do something differently?” Kinnear asked. “We’ve done it this way for four years now. Kinnear has served on the council for four years, and each has featured a scramble for shelter like Thursday’s.

Deja vu spokane