Spokane County funds program aimed at helping homeless people leave Spokane for greener pastures

Apr. 30—Spokane County commissioners will fund at least another year of a program aimed at helping homeless people start a new chapter in another area.

Volunteers of America of Eastern Washington and North Idaho, a nonprofit that operates homeless shelters and resource services in the Inland Northwest, will use the funding to help relocate people who lack support networks in the region. The voluntary Homeward Bound program covers travel costs for individuals who want to leave Spokane to be closer to family or friends in another area.

The commissioners voted unanimously Tuesday to approve an allocation of $30,000 to the organization for the program's third round of funding. The county had previously allocated $20,000 in 2022 and 2023.

"The goal is to move unhoused individuals in Spokane County outside of the county where they have a support system," said Henry Walker, who oversees the program for Volunteers of America.

Commissioner Josh Kerns, who helped jumpstart the program, said he brought the idea to the county after seeing how successful similar assistance was in the Seattle area. He said it's a cost-effective way to help those in the homeless community who may have more stable living opportunities elsewhere.

The relocation expense for an individual averages around $300 for the 104 people the program has assisted so far. Walker said the program has been more successful in assisting individuals from marginalized communities than other programs. More than half of recipients identified as Black, Indigenous or a person of color.

"There's not much worse than what's separating you from a roof over your head is ($300 to $400)," Kerns said.

Costs per person are often much lower, Walker said, when recounting how he purchased a $25 bus ticket for someone looking to get back to their family in Pasco.

"Sometimes it's as simple as $25 to get someone out of a shelter and back into a home," Walker said.

The program caters to individuals already working with social workers or local organizations such as SNAP, Frontier Behavioral Health, Jewels Helping Hands or the Veterans Administration. Those providers then refer their clients to the program, after ensuring they have somewhere to stay and friends or family to support them.

Travel assistance will be dispersed on a first-come, first-served basis, and applications will remain open from Wednesday until funding dries up.

"The idea is that people do best when they have a community of friends and family surrounding them," Walker said.

Walker said his organization has no record of anyone accessing the service and then returning to living unhoused, or in the Spokane-area. He stipulated that there is not a process set up to track it; once people leave the county, they are no longer enrolled in services.

Walker said Volunteers of America will ensure participants get to their destination, but legally they cannot treat them as clients once they leave the county. He's only heard from two participants who arrived at their destination to find their plans fell through, and both were able to find a stable situation that worked for them, he said.

"In our world, no news is usually good news," Walker said.

Commissioner Chris Jordan noted ahead of the vote Tuesday that the program is just one piece of the county's efforts to address homelessness. Only a portion of the unhoused population in the county is from outside of the region and may be interested in the program, but Jordan said it still provides crucial support for vulnerable individuals.

"We all know we have a lot of work to do, so I say let's keep working on comprehensive solutions," Jordan said. "Let's keep working for new investments to grow affordable housing supply, continuing to make drug and mental health treatment accessible, improve the effectiveness of our homelessness response system and better coordinate these strategies with our regional partners and neighboring jurisdictions."

"I'm optimistic that we'll continue to make progress on all these fronts," he added.

Walker said that while only a fraction of Spokane's unhoused population is from out of town, he estimates that the large majority likely have friends or family elsewhere that can provide housing and support. He often hears it himself from clients, who lament having transportation costs as the only hurdle between them and a stable living situation.

"Since I've been doing this program these last few years, I've seen the incredible effect it's had on people and how much this is needed in the community," Walker said. "The people who receive this, you can tell how incredible it is for them. They act like you are saving their life. The hope that it gives people is very important."