05-2025 HHTF_Packet
10210 E Sprague Avenue | Spokane Valley WA 99206
Phone: (509) 720-5000 | Fax: (509) 720-5075 | www.spokanevalleywa.gov
SPOKANE VALLEY HOMELESS HOUSING TASK FORCE
MEETINGAGENDA
Thursday, May 22, 2025 | 2:00 p.m.
Spokane Valley City Hall, 10210 E Sprague Ave, Room N212Second Floor Conference Roomand virtuallyon Zoom:
Click here to: Join the meeting online
Meeting ID: 862 6839 9898| Passcode: 742994
1. Call to Order
2. Attendance
3.Open Public Meetings Act & Public RecordsAct Training
Senior Deputy City Attorney Tony Beattie
4.General Public Comment Opportunity
This is an opportunity for the public to speak on any subject except agenda action items, as public
comments will be taken on those items where indicated.
ACTION ITEMS
5.Approval of April 2025 Meeting Minutes
INFORMATION AND DISCUSSION ITEMS
6. Hope House Shelter/Respite Bed Update
7.Adjournment
AGENDA ITEM 5
SPOKANE VALLEY HOMELESS HOUSING TASK FORCE
RegularMeeting Minutes| April 24, 2025| 2:00 pm
at Spokane Valley City Hall, 10210 E Sprague Ave, Room N212 and on Zoom
1 CALL TO ORDER: Task ForceChair,MayorPam Haley,called the meeting to order at 2:00pm.
2 ATTENDANCE: In attendance were:
Task Force Voting MembersGuests (in-person)
Mayor Pam Haley, City of Spokane Valley Karl D. Kistler
Lance Beck, Greater Spokane Valley Chamber Gretchen Brown, Frontier Behavioral Health
John Parker, Central Valley School District Jennifer Calvert
Kelly Keenen, Spokane Housing Authority Cassie Montgomery, Family Promise Spokane
Joseph Ghodsee
Allisha Corley Guests(online)
Lisa Miller, Lex Law Corp.Grace Vera
Joseph Ader, Family Promise Spokane
Voting Members Alternate(s)Gatieh Nacario, Volunteers of America
Chris McKinney for George Dahl, Spokane County
City Staff
Task Force Non-Voting Members Eric Robison, Homeless & Housing Coordinator
Gloria Mantz, City of Spokane Valley, City Services Sarah Farr, Accounting & Finance Program Manager
Administrator Julie Meyers-Lehman, Executive Assistant
3General Public Comment Opportunity
Chair Haley called for public comments. There were none.
ACTION ITEMS
4Approval of February2025Meeting Minutes
Ms. Miller made a motion to approve the minutesas presented. Mr. Ghodsee seconded. The motionpassed
unanimously.
INFORMATION AND DISCUSSION ITEMS
5Homeless Housing Task Force and Program Overview
Mr. Robison provided a background and summary of the Spokane Valley Homeless and Housing program. New
and renewing members each introduced themselves.
Spokane Valley Homeless Housing Task Force 04.24.2025 Meeting MinutesPage 1 of 2
6Outreach Team Quarterly Update
Mr. Robison described the composition and deployment of the Outreach Team. Ms. Mantz outlined the city’s
contract with Frontier Behavioral Health (FBH). Ms. Brown explained how FBH coordinates with SVPD Homeless
Outreach officers and described the various types of services the teams provide. She shared client outcome data
from July 1, 2024 through March 31, 2025.
Members discussed funding challenges, other service providers in the region, re-housing and paying rent in
arrears, challenges with clients who have pets, and rehab/treatment facility availabilities.
7Shelter Bed Contracts
Mr. Robison explained that the current contract with Volunteers of America’s Hope House to provide low-barrier
“respite” beds for women expires June 30, 2025. Hope House is changing its operations and will no longer offer
shelter beds, but will continue offering respite beds (respite beds provide a higher level of service, such as case
management, operate 24/7 and cost more per night than shelter beds). One respite bed at Hope House costs the
city $136/day$49,000 per year, whether or not the beds are occupied. The second bed is $15 per night but only
if it is being used. The city also contracts with Truth Ministries for beds for men for$20 per night for two shelter
beds.
Mr. Robison shared usage information for both facilities. He said the Task Force will soon need to make a
recommendation to the Council about whether to renew the shelter bed contracts.
8Affordable Housing RFP Update
In 2021 the city was awarded funding under the American Rescue Plan Act and the City Council directed $2
rd
million for affordable housing within Spokane Valley. The city purchased 1.3 acres at 3 Ave & Carnahan Rd and
rd
on April 22, 2025, the Council awarded Habitat for Humanity with the contract to build 24 units at 3Ave &
st
Carnahan and 1 single family residence on another city owned vacant parcel at 4908 E 1 Ave. Construction is
expected to begin in 2026. Members discussed having Habitat for Humanity come to a Task Force meeting to
present on this project.
9ADJOURNMENT: There being no further business, the meeting adjourned at 2:49 pm.
Julie Meyers-Lehman, Executive Assistant
Spokane Valley Homeless Housing Task Force 04.24.2025 Meeting Minutes Page 2 of 2
AGENDA ITEM 6
10210 E Sprague Avenue |Spokane Valley WA 99206
Phone: (509) 720-5000 |Fax: (509) 720-5075 |www.spokanevalleywa.gov
SPOKANE VALLEY HOMELESS HOUSING TASK FORCE
Meeting Date:May22, 2025
AGENDA ITEM TITLE: Hope HouseShelter and Respite Bed Update
BACKGROUND:The City contracts with Volunteers of America (VOA)
referrals. Respite beds offer significantly more services, including some medical care and case management, to the guests
usingthese beds. One respite bed costs $136 per night or about $49,000 per year, whether it is occupied or not. A second
-needed basis only. The current contract goes through June 30, 2025.
Hope House is currently undergoing significantoperational and fundingchanges. The low-barrier shelter,which served
about 100 women each nightat its peak,is scheduled to shut down by June 30 of this year. The respite bedprogram will
continue to operate, but with changes. The current 20 respite beds will be increased to 44, with services offered to both
women and men moving forward. Hope House staff believe that the size and layout of the current facility will allow
sufficient privacy for clients in this new model.
VOA has priced the actual cost of a single respite bed at around $300 per night. According to VOA, the current $136/night
cost is subsidized by income from other parts of the program andis not sustainable. Because this actual cost is prohibitive
for most if not all area providers, Hope House plans toutilizea state-funded program wherein respite beds will be paid
While
a bed could theoretical(at a cost of $300/night), in
reality the high cost would likely preclude therespite beds from beingreserved through contracts. Instead, all beds will
be filled on a first-come, first-served basis. To be eligible for the state to reimbursefor the cost of a respite bed, a client
s
month.
Under this new model,the CityHope House respite beds would be covered by the state program, however
the Outreach Team would only be able to help someone into a respite bed at Hope House if 1) they qualify for respite
servicesunder the referral criteria, and 2) if there is space. The City no longer has the option to set asideor reservebeds,
or to pay for those reserved or per-diem beds directly.
Currently, the only other low-barrier shelter for women operating in Sp
one of the scatter-This overnight-only shelter recently opened and
has a maximum capacity for 30 individuals. The shelter is managed by Jewels Helping Hands and is only accessible through
areferral.
beds at one of the scattered site locations in the future, but that they were not in a position to move forward with such
an arrangement at this time.
All of this means that unless something changes, after June 30th the Outreach Team will no longer have a bed to offer
women who may be interested in shelter.
RECOMMENDED ACTION:Information and Discussion
STAFF CONTACT: Gloria Mantz; City Services Administrator; Sarah Farr, Accounting & Finance Program Manager
ATTACHMENTS: None