SPOKANE, Wash. - The Salvation Army officially took over operations at the Trent Resource and Assistance Center (TRAC) and the Cannon Street Shelter, two of the City of Spokane's homeless shelters, at midnight on Tuesday.
The city's previous shelter contractor for the two facilities, the Guardians Foundation, is under criminal investigation by the Spokane Police Department and an internal forensic audit by the city after an employee allegedly embezzled more than $100,000 from the organization.
Spokane City Council members called a special session to unanimously approve the Salvation Army as the new shelter operator last week, after the city terminated their contract with the Guardians Foundation.
At that special session, Spokane City Administrator Johnnie Perkins told council members the city's decision to terminate the Guardians' contract was separate from the criminal investigation and forensic audit, citing the Guardians' failures to maintain accurate records and lack of internal accounting that met standards established in their contract.Â
Both the criminal investigation and the forensic audit are described by the city as ongoing.
City spokesperson Brian Coddington said the Salvation Army wasn't ready to do interviews Tuesday, adding Salvation Army staff were working to get up to speed on operations at the two facilities.
Coddington described the hand-off between the Guardians Foundation and Salvation Army as "smooth and professional," in an interview outside TRAC Tuesday afternoon.
"They are both very much focused on those who are here that need assistance," Coddington said. "They want to make sure that it's a smooth transition for everybody, so they can literally just pick up the next day and it's a different operator."
Salvation Army staff are familiarizing themselves with the buildings, the staff and the people staying there, according to Coddington.
"Getting to know the schedules, the meal schedules and making sure there's a smooth transition, so most importantly those who are staying inside have a continuous place to stay but also a continuous experience," Coddington said.
The city says the Cannon Street Shelter is consistently at capacity, with 88 people staying there.
TRAC is said to have 150 to 180 people staying at the facility, depending on the weather.
Coddington said they have the ability to handle an influx of people at TRAC because of the size of the building and contingencies the city has in place, like additional sleeping mats.
"As the weather starts to turn and we have rain and snow in the forecast, and the weather goes into the 20s, there's a place for people to stay inside and out of the weather," Coddington said.
Work is already underway by the Salvation Army to add more bed space, showers and restrooms to TRAC to accommodate any increase in occupancy that might arise, according to the city.
The city's contracted service provider at TRAC, Revive, is working to bring resources to the center–a key aspect to the "navigation center" approach proposed by Mayor Nadine Woodward and Spokane County officials.
"Making connections to employment, to housing, to addiction services, to behavioral health [services], all different types of things that an individual might need to take the next step in their journey," Coddington said.
Major Ken Perine from the Salvation Army told city council members at last week's special session that they were hoping to hire staff already working at the two facilities.
"I don't have an exact number, but the majority were hired," Coddington said Tuesday. "Those that wanted to stay on were offered an opportunity to stay on."
Conversations between the Salvation Army and the city about how to make both operations more efficient are already underway.
"There are some populations that are more vulnerable than others, so there might be a reallocation of the different populations to Cannon, versus staying here," Coddington said. "That's all the things that are on the table that we're working on and talking about with the Salvation Army. They've got some ideas about how to run both more efficiently and more effectively, so we're talking about how to make that match up with their mission and service they provide."
Both the city and Spokane County have court proceedings ongoing with regard to their responses to Camp Hope, but Coddington said the city's goal of moving people out of the elements and into some kind of housing by the end of the month still remains.
