Community Building breakfast feeds hundreds to help with Spokane’s annual homeless count.
Today is Spokane’s fourth annual “Every One Counts” day and the Community Building was one of several locations in the city where non-profit organizations like the Center for Justice had mobilized to pitch in.
The City of Spokane, Spokane County, state agencies and non-profit groups who serve low-income people work together on the count which is needed to comply with requirements to access state money for housing and services for homeless people.
At the Community Building, the staff led by building supervisor David Edwards had organized several volunteers to serve a hot breakfast to homeless guests for most of the morning. Before the first hour was up, more than a hundred had come in out of the cold to be served.
In 2005, the Washington Legislature passed the Washington State Homelessness Housing and Assistance Act that provides roughly $12 million a year for homelessness assistance. The law requires the count and sets a goal of reducing homelessness by at least 50 percent in 10 years.
“Local programs work very in Spokane to address the needs of people who are homeless,” says Amy Jones, chair of the Every One Counts steering committee. “This is the fourth annual winter count in Spokane, which provides us with
essential data to streamline our programs and services to better meet the needs of homeless persons as well as bring in additional money to pay for them.”
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