Shelters scramble to make room

With temperatures expected to drop below zero today, homeless shelters and others who provide help to the region’s poor are bracing for an increase in demand on services.

The National Weather Service was expecting temperatures as low as 10 below zero tonight as the arctic air it has been keeping track of all week finally enters the region. With 10 to 15 mph winds on Friday, wind-chill readings could be 14 below to 24 below zero.

“It’s coming from Siberia,” said Weather Service meteorologist Tracy Cox, “touching us, but mostly going east of the Rockies.”

At the House of Charity in Spokane, program coordinator Mike Cain was prepared to open the shelter’s day room to the homeless should the cold increase demand beyond its 108 beds, which were full earlier in the week. The shelter has never had to house people downstairs overnight before, Cain said. Most homeless find somewhere to go. Perhaps they stay with friends or family.

Public assistance checks that come at the beginning of the month afford the very poor a place to stay in a hotel for several days, Cain said. After that, they have to find room in the community’s emergency shelters. He tells the six Jesuit and AmeriCorps volunteers who work at House of Charity that “they could literally save a life” when the weather gets like this.

The Union Gospel Mission with its 185 beds for men will turn no one away even if the temperature plunges below zero and even if people have to sleep on the floor.

“We’ve always been able to make room,” said David Wall, development director and operations manager, who said the mission boarded 125 men on Tuesday night.

The mission’s sister facility, Ogden Hall with 85 beds for women and children, is running at capacity, Wall said.

The Salvation Army Family Emergency shelter, with 55 beds in 15 rooms, was boarding 46 people, including 17 children under the age of 18 on Tuesday, said Laurie Meloy, shelter manager. She said the shelter took three calls Tuesday morning from families who were evicted from their homes.

SNAP is providing 56 households with housing assistance. There are 16 families on its waiting list. The agency does not normally provide emergency shelter, but when temperatures dip below zero, it can find housing by coordinating with local shelters or providing emergency housing assistance, said Robin Waller, communications coordinator.

“If we know about homeless out living in cars, we try to find them emergency shelter,” Waller said.

SNAP provides energy assistance totaling $1,440,000 to 3,380 households in the region. On any given day the agency provides 80 to 100 households with help paying natural gas, oil or electricity bills, Waller said.

For emergency energy assistance, families who have received shut-off notices can call SNAP offices at local community centers in their neighborhoods – the East Central Community Center, 456-7106; the Northeast Community Center, 487-1114; or the Valley Community Center, 926-1912.

The agency also provides sack dinners, clothes and blankets every Thursday at the Coach House Restaurant at First and Madison. Anyone wishing to donate blankets, clothes or funds can call SNAP at 456-7111, extension 242, Waller said.

The Spokane County Regional Animal Care and Protection Services said it has been receiving numerous calls from citizens concerned about animals, particularly dogs kept outside without doghouses or water that is frozen.

The agency reminds pet owners to keep animals inside or in adequate shelter and provide them with more food than normal during extreme cold. Anyone wishing to donate a new or “gently used” dog house may take it to the animal shelter at 251 N. Flora Road in Spokane Valley or call 477-2532.