SPOKANE VALLEY – The city’s initial plan of action to combat and reduce homelessness in Spokane Valley was approved by council on Dec. 5.
The City Services Administrator, Gloria Mantz has brought the plan to council on several occasions, and has had to revise some of the language to fit what city council wanted to see in the plan.
In previous presentations, council told Mantz that they wanted to see the plan have an aim to increase workforce or entry level housing rather than using the term “affordable housing.”
The plan also needed to include more instances of accountability being stressed. Council had also asked for the plan to show prioritization of the outreach team along with city staff and police.
First and foremost, the idea is to prevent homelessness as much as possible, and according to language in the plan prevention is the best practice nationally.
Preventing homelessness also helps reduce crime and instances of suicide. According to the plan Mantz presented, children who experience homelessness are more likely to experience it as an adult along with a plethora of other issues.
They are also three times more likely to drop out of school, five times more likely to be a victim of sexual violence, and seven times more likely to attempt suicide than their counterparts.
A recent survey went out to residents in the county, and took 1,400 answers into consideration. 54% of responses said they had to take a loan out simply to pay rent. Nearly 48% of answers show they also had to help care for a parent, older child or other extended family member.
28% of respondents said they had to live with others in order to make ends meet, meaning they don’t have a residence in their name.
According to the city’s Housing Action Plan, 48% of renters in the city are “cost burdened,” meaning they pay more than 30% of their monthly income toward rent. 25% of renters are severely burdened. Those individuals pay over 50% of their monthly income to rent, meaning they are right on the verge of homelessness.
The study also showed that 47% of people who answered are late in rent payments. 75% of people struggle to cover current rent, and 56% have already received eviction notices.
So, the first step according to Mantz is to increase housing availability. In the plan the most critical component according to Mantz is to make sure Valley residents can find housing they can afford.
The connection between housing affordability to homelessness is evident and well documented according to Mantz.
There has been a big emphasis put on implementing “missing middle” housing which falls in between single-family homes and apartment complexes. This plan points out that entry level housing is of critical importance as well.
Trying to find room for new structures to be built has been problematic, as the existing housing needs to be preserved as well.
In many cases, older residents are limited by being on a fixed income, and can’t afford the increases that have been happening year after year. They are simply forced out as their income has not increased at the same rate of their expenses.
According to the city, in 2021 rents increased by 23.8% in the region, with the median price for a one bedroom dwelling running $965 and $1,327 for two bedroom units.
Even rental or housing applications can add to the stress because even a $50 fee can be out of reach for someone on a fixed income according to statistics in their plan.
According to Mantz, the plan looks to help establish programs that can help low-income people cover initial move-in costs.
Partnering with other local agencies can help the city adequately see the problems and work out ways to alleviate some of the hardships.
According to the Government Accountability Office, in August of 2020 they produced a report that showed that a $100 increase to rent were directly linked to an increase in homelessness by nine percent in the areas they studied.
Matthew graduated from West Virginia University-Parkersburg in 2011 with a journalism degree. He's an award-winning photographer and enjoys writing stories about people.
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