Spokane

“I wish it was still going on,” Justice Andino tells me at Camp Hope in Spokane, Washington. “I liked it here.” Andino and his wife Tracy were the last two people to exit one of the largest homeless encampments Washington has ever seen. Andino holds back tears as he speaks. After living at Camp Hope for over a year, Andino says he will miss the community, the people, and the sense of safety. “I felt like the people gave a sh*t about you, you know?” Andino and his wife are moving on and into a new apartment, and he says his tears are tears of joy. Organizers claimed that more than 600 people lived at Camp Hope at its peak. Read More ›

Post Mortem in Spokane On Friday, “Camp Hope” shut down for good. At one point, organizers claimed more than 600 homeless people lived on this piece of WSDOT (@wsdot_east) property in the East Central neighborhood. After 18 months, more than half ended up in shelters or housing options that made sense for them. But officials say a few hundred likely ended up back on the city’s streets for various reasons. I spent the weekend trying to understand what worked and didn’t work. Camp Hope organizers say determining all that is going to take some time but everyone’s progress is being tracked. And some are saying this could be a model for sanctioned encampments. As for the state of the city, Read More ›

(The Center Square) – The 2023 point-in-time count numbers show a significant increase for individuals and families without a permanent abode in Spokane, though a large encampment had been drawing down at the time. According to the 2022 Annual Homeless Assessment Report to Congress released earlier this year, “homelessness in Washington state increased 10% overall from 2020 to 2022,” and the Spokane Regional numbers over that same time period are a significant increase on that percentage. The 2023 data, presented during Thursday’s Spokane City Council Study Session, shows 2,390 people from 2,136 households were counted as homeless this year. This is a significant increase compared to the 2022 numbers showing 1,757 people from 1,513 households, a rise of 36% and 41% for Read More ›

Chatter in Spokane @SheriffOzzie wants to move ahead sometime in November and clear out “Camp Hope.” But there is intel indicating FAR LEFT activists/ANTIFA could DISRUPT sweep. What a mess. Meanwhile Sheriff says he’s working back channels, hoping for orderly transition. Ozzie Unfiltered At today’s presser in #Spokane, @SheriffOzzie went off on local MEDIA and blamed “bureaucrats” for “Camp Hope.” A coalition of biz owners and neighbors want massive encampment removed before THANKSGIVING. Everyone Getting Put on Blast @SheriffOzzie clarified and said when he referenced “bureaucrats,” he was talking about @WSDOT_East and @WAStateCommerce. He also says Olympia cannot solve #Spokane‘s problems. Basically, just get out of the way and let us do our jobs. Business and Neighbor Coalition They are Read More ›