Residents, businesses pitch in to help out

In this snow emergency, neighbors are helping neighbors in residential neighborhoods throughout Spokane. The downtown shelters that serve Spokane’s homeless and low-income residents helped one another out, too.

The House of Charity, 32 W. Pacific Ave., had 35 extra men in its warming center Wednesday night, in addition to the 104 men sleeping in the regular dorm upstairs. The House of Charity closes from 3 to 6 p.m. each day so the staff can clean and prepare for the evening sleepovers.

Shalom Ministries at Central United Methodist Church, 518 E. Third Ave., realized that House of Charity patrons wouldn’t have anyplace to go during those hours, so it opened their space to the patrons and will serve them evening meals this week. Usually, Shalom Ministries offers breakfast four mornings a week, but just one evening meal each week.

And Thursday was the scheduled Christmas dinner for Hope House, 111 W. Third Ave., a women’s shelter, and House of Charity staffers made sure it went on as scheduled. The food, donated by a local business and cooked at the House of Charity, was delivered by staffers who walked the three- or four-block route between the two shelters.

“We cooked up enough for 40 people,” said Ed McCarron, director of the House of Charity.

Women’s Hearth, a drop-in center for low-income women at 920 W. Second Ave., didn’t open Thursday, but staffers walked to House of Charity to help with activities there.

And what did the snowbound patrons spend their time doing? They wrote Christmas cards.

“Earlier this month, we received a stash of prestamped Christmas cards. So (patrons) sat around and sent them to family members. We also had a heck of a lot of folks out shoveling, and they did it for neighboring businesses, too,” said Kendra Powell, an AmeriCorps volunteer at the House of Charity.

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Two days’ worth of meals arrived at the homes of 230 senior citizens Thursday thanks to Meals on Wheels volunteers with four-wheel drive and George Gee Automotive, which provided three Hummers to reach snowed-in residents.

Had it not been for the Hummers, “we would have had to hike in, and we would have been doing it all night,” said Mollie Dalpae, executive director of Mid-City Concerns Meals on Wheels.

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Jana Wallin joined her husband in a snowshoe excursion through downtown Spokane on Thursday afternoon. Wallin estimated they’d helped a dozen people dig out but said the snow had given them few problems.

“We love it,” she said.

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Shane Kellberg said he’d helped several people during his walk from the lower South Hill to downtown, including a woman in tears because she couldn’t get her car out of its parking spot.

“I’ve never seen anything like it,” said Kellberg. “People are pretty much stuck in.”

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Chester Lawrence left his car in a gas station parking lot Wednesday night and walked to his South Hill apartment. He walked past the car Thursday – all he could see was a mountain of snow with a mirror sticking out. He wasn’t sure how he’d get to his job today at a fast-food restaurant in Spokane Valley, but said he was enjoying the snow nonetheless.

“It’s crisis time. You see everybody helping everybody,” he said.