One of the Otis Hotel’s soon-to-be evicted tenants told social service workers he’s lived there for 20 years. Now in his 80s, and disabled, he hopes to find a new room within a three-block radius.

He eats meals at Mid-City Concerns nearby, and this scruffy neighborhood is all he knows.

Unfortunately, these workers, members of the Homefinders team, recognize the truth: There are no rooms in his neighborhood available for him.

The Otis Hotel, along with other buildings along West First Avenue, has been slated for redevelopment. And while developer Chris Batten has worked to mitigate the impact on residents, and the city of Spokane is paying relocation expenses, time is quickly running out. The mayor’s task force, which includes developers, housing experts and nonprofit agency representatives, is searching for solutions and developing long-range proposals.

But the fact is inescapable: In a tight rental market, very few options exist for Otis residents – veterans, elderly, sex offenders and others with mental or physical disabilities – who live on as little as $339 a month.

The solutions are far from simple. Task force members have been turning over every rock. Options include pursuing scarce federal, state and local government grants – each with their own set of restrictions – designed to help address the needs these tenants represent.

For example, there may be the possibility of applying for a state pilot program for housing sex offenders. An estimated 21 of them have been living at the Otis.

The empty Turner building at Monroe and Broadway may become an alternative for housing others. Programs designed for helping the elderly or the mentally ill also must be scoured for openings.

And in the midst of this short-term scramble, the mayor’s task force must develop a proposal for a new city policy that would provide more time for similar relocations ahead. It must devise a strategy for providing incentives and encouraging innovative projects for new low-income housing.

The city’s most hard-to-place residents have very few choices. Even when they’re building relatively affordable rentals, developers usually prefer to construct apartments for Starbucks baristas and college students, not disabled elders living on state assistance.

So far, the city’s nonprofit agencies have stepped up to help. Earlier this summer they donated an estimated $35,000 to $50,000 of staff time to help other relocated downtown tenants.

Local citizens must continue to support their efforts, as well as advocate with politicians, churches and business groups. For if there’s one thing this city can’t afford, it is this: Any more people left to sleep this winter on downtown Spokane’s frozen streets.