City reverses course, will reopen Cannon Street warming center with new operator

The city of Spokane scrambled to reopen its Cannon Street warming center on Thursday, just hours after the nonprofit operating it shuttered the facility and handed out tents to its departing guests.

Section:Gallery

Thu., April 30, 2020

Julie Garcia, left, Bowser Vecito, kneeling, and Zonith Shaw, assemble a tent for the homeless, Thursday, April 30, 2020, in Spokane’s Coeur d’Alene Park.

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Bowser Vecito found a spot to pitch his new tent under a pine tree, Thursday, April 30, 2020, in Spokane’s Coeur d’Alene Park. Jewels Helping hands’ contract on its South Cannon Street expired on Thursday, leaving over 100 people to take up residence in tents in the park.

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A passerby notices the tents pitched next to the gazebo in Coeur dAlene Park, Thursday, April 30, 2020, in Spokane, Wash after Jewels Helping Hands was closed.

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Todd Bucknell, employee at Jewels Helping Hands, packs his belonging, Thursday, April, 30, 2020, on the closing day of the Cannon Street Shelter.

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Zonith Shaw pounds a tent stake into the Coeur d’Alene Park grass as over 100 tents sprout up for homeless people after the closing of the Cannon Street Shelter, Thursday, April 30, 2020, in Spokane.

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Julie Garcia, of Jewels Helping Hands, checks on a homeless man, before giving him a tent, Thursday, April 30, 2020, in Coeur d’Alene Park.

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A tent city spring up in Coeur d’Alene Park after the closing of the Cannon Street Shelter, Thursday, April 30, 2020.

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