City Hopes For Influx Of Cash For Homeless But Budget Cuts May Leave Programs With Less Money Than Before

Unless the Republican Congress cancels a half-million dollar check, Spokane’s growing homeless population may soon get a lot more attention.

The U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development announced recently it intends to give the city a $594,000 grant to better counsel and track its homeless residents.

Homeless advocates indicate the money would double the city’s services for an estimated 6,000 homeless people in Spokane.

“We’re trying to move from an area of Band-Aid treatment, of just sheltering people, to giving them skills to get out of their situations,” said June Shapiro, city director of Human Services.

Shapiro also said the city, and the region’s housing and homeless organizations, requested another $5 million in federal cash last week to help buy a new shelter and provide other homeless services.

But the money may never arrive. Instead, the city may actually have less money to help people cope with the housing squeeze and the homeless problem.

The uncertainty is rooted in a political dance in the nation’s capital.

The Clinton administration is trying to avoid major agency cutbacks, so it is offering big-dollar grants to help prove programs are in high demand.

The Republican-controlled Congress is busy showing it can cut federal spending. The House passed a plan to cut $17.5 billion from social programs already earmarked for this year.

If the cuts survive the Senate and become law, then the Spokane homeless grant, as well as some current local money for housing assistance programs, will vanish.

Spokane housing leaders have lobbied in Washington, D.C., trying to persuade the state’s delegation to spare the programs.

Mary Jo Harvey, executive director of the Spokane Housing Authority, wrote the state’s lawmakers earlier this year, asking them to grasp the impact of the cuts on Eastern Washington constituents.

She emphasized that many of the recipients of HUD assistance aren’t usually people with a lifetime of dependence on government cash. “Most, in fact, receive assistance for relatively short periods when experiencing a major crisis in their lives.”

Rep. George Nethercutt, R-Wash., voted for the assistance cuts. Washington Sens. Slade Gorton and Patty Murray will likely cancel out each other’s votes, with Murray in opposition and Gorton in support.

One threatened program is the homeless office run by the Spokane Neighborhood Action Program. About half the $180,000 that the program uses to help homeless families stick together comes from the federal treasury.

Its leaders hope for a boost from the new grant to expand the work. They also fear major cuts.

“It’s (already) become more difficult over the last year and a half to sustain our activities,” said Ray Riecker, an assistant director of SNAP.