Downtown library opens as temporary homeless shelter

With an injection of state funding and local ingenuity, the downtown Spokane Public Library opened as a temporary shelter for people experiencing homelessness on Monday to support the region’s response to the COVID-19 pandemic.

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Mon., March 30, 2020

Fawn Schott, CEO of Volunteers of America, measures 6 feet of distance between sleeping mats, Monday, March 30, 2020, at the temporary shelter for the homeless in the downtown Spokane Public Library.

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Virginia Clark, Hope House shelter support staff, drops linens onto sleeping mats before the opening of the temporary shelter for the homeless in the Spokane Public Library, Monday, March 30, 2020, in downtown Spokane.

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Elsa St. Clair shelves rolls of toilet paper before the opening of the temporary shelter for the homeless in the Spokane Public Library, Monday, March 30, 2020, in downtown Spokane.

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Julie Garcia, of Jewels Helping Hands, reviews the space for her clients at the Cannon Warming Center will use as temporary shelter, Monday, March 30, 20202, at the downtown Spokane Public Library.

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A men’s bathroom has been converted into a women’s shower area, in the temporary shelter for the homeless in the downtown Spokane Public Library, Monday, March 30, 2020.

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Homeless people wait for the opening of the temporary shelter in the Spokane Public Library, Monday, March 30, 2020, in downtown Spokane.

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Spokane Mayor Nadine Woodward, left, and Lisa Brown, Washington State Commerce Director, meet and greet before a tour of the temporary shelter for the homeless, Monday, March 30, 2020, at the downtown Spokane Public Library.

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Homeless people make their way to the front doors for the opening of the temporary shelter in the Spokane Public Library, Monday, March 30, 2020, in downtown Spokane.

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Fawn Schott, CEO of Volunteers of America Eastern Washington & Northern Idaho, measures out 6 feet between sleeping mats Monday, March 30, 2020, at Hope House’s temporary homeless shelter in space at the Spokane Public Library.

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The Spokane Public Library has been turned into a temporary shelter for the homeless, Monday, March 30, 2020, in downtown Spokane.

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