Heather Thomas-Taylor’s eyes crinkled as she smiled beneath her mask and weaved her way between cots at the new Hope House location in the downtown Spokane Public Library building.

Women staying at the shelter had already begun decorating after their move from Hopes House’s regular location on Third Avenue. The walls were covered with hand-drawn posters with inspirational phrases. One woman was finishing a glittery card for her grandchildren.

In response to the coronavirus pandemic, Hope House expanded its service to house 40 women full time rather than its usual overnight services and moved into the large library space to allow for social distancing.

The move for Thomas-Taylor is just the latest change in her more than 10 years at Hope House, where she became assistant director in 2016. Hope House is a women’s shelter downtown founded to protect women on the streets after the 1997 serial murders of women on the streets of Spokane. The shelter is operated by the non-profit Volunteers of America.

Volunteering has always been a big part of Thomas-Taylor’s life.

“My parents always required both my sister and I to volunteer in my community up north,” Thomas-Taylor said of growing up in Colville. “So, it was just kind of a natural progression.”

The mindset in Colville, she said, is “everyone has to chip in,” with fewer resources and less funding available than in larger communities.

That background, as well as her degree in social work from Eastern Washington University, shaped how Thomas-Taylor runs Hope House.

“I think it really has impacted how I’ve developed the program,” Thomas-Taylor said. “I like to think of Spokane as the biggest small community in Eastern Washington.”

As COVID-19 spread in Eastern Washington, that focus on community engagement paid off for the shelter.

“We have received all kinds of beautiful community support in this space,” Thomas-Taylor said.

After being faced with the tough decision to reduce capacity to allow space for social distancing or move all together into a new space, Thomas-Taylor, her staff and volunteers moved the entire shelter to the downtown Spokane Library in just one day at the end of March.

“It was just one of those things that kind of fell into place,” she said. “We’re … incredibly grateful for all of the heavy lifting that the city of Spokane did for that to be an opportunity.”

The community support for the move is something Hope House residents are extremely grateful for, Thomas-Taylor said.

“The women are fantastic. They’re beyond grateful,” she said. “They’re writing thank you notes to everyone that was involved.”

While many of the women previously staying at the shelter moved over to the new location, the shelter has been averaging about 20 open beds a night. New residents have to pass a health screening and then can stay in the shelter 24/7 for the foreseeable future.

To help with the move and new 24-hour service, community members donated linens and did laundry, and a bar owner volunteered to coordinate food service.

“Really this is a community effort. Our name is on the front of the door but it’s really the community’s program at this point,” Thomas-Taylor said.

While the new shelter is up and running, that doesn’t mean Hope House doesn’t still need help.

Volunteers are needed to run errands, financial donations are needed to help offset new operating costs, and staff need encouragement while dealing wit the extra stress of the pandemic, Thomas-Taylor said.

Everyone is needing “words of encouragement” right now, Thomas-Taylor said. Community members who have written her staff notes or sent a supportive email really do make a difference.