KXLY
August 3, 2021 4:33 PM
Updated:
SPOKANE, Wash. The Inland Northwest is growing faster than our housing supply can keep up with and it is squeezing locals out of our community.
The pandemic flipped our housing crunch into a full-blown housing crisis and community organizations like “The ZoNE” are working to guide people facing the possibility of eviction.
The ZoNE conducts phone surveys, goes door-to-door and hosts workshops to help families with the rental application process.
Stacy Lenz, a Community Engagement Coordinator with The ZoNE, says a very different version of homelessness comes through their doors.
“They are multi-generational families or they’re parents with children or grandparents raising children,” said Lenz.
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A new grant will increase the stability of a program that provides afterschool and summer activities for families.
Amelia Smith, 9, finishes a craft at Spokane Public Schools summer program while her sibling participates in middle school events.
Credit Rebecca White/SPR
Afterschool and summer programs that help children in northeast Spokane connect with safe recreation activities, literacy and science programs just received a $2 million boost from the federal government.
Since 2018 afterschool programs at northeast Spokane schools have introduced children to swimming lessons, new parks and educational opportunities.
Amber Waldref is the director of the ZoNE, which finds grants and private donors to pay for many of those programs. She said finding long-term funding to sustain after school and summer funding is always a challenge, but said $2 million from the feds will change that.
Washington initiative aimed at fighting opioid epidemic
Program focuses on locking bags, take-back kiosks By Arielle Dreher, The Spokesman-Review
Published: July 10, 2021, 9:19pm
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After a year of increasing drug-overdose deaths, Washington state pharmacies are working with patients to lock up their prescriptions and bring back leftover medication they don’t need in a effort to combat opioid misuse.
The Health Care Authority contracted with 21 pharmacies in northwest Washington in a pilot program to give out locking medication bags to patients this year.
“We know that about 75 percent of all opioid misuse starts if somebody takes a prescription that wasn’t prescribed to them,” said Jessica Blose, who leads the state opioid response at the Health Care Authority.
Young Kwak Beacon Hill Catering & Events co-owner Ellie Aaro, left, leads an effort to feed families while supporting the hard-hit hospitality industry. She s pictured with Beacon Hill Executive Chef Ryan Jordan. T
he hospitality industry keeps taking punches as the COVID-19 pandemic continues, with few signs of improvement, but that hasn’t stopped dozens of local business owners from giving back to the community even as their own livelihoods struggle. Beacon Hill Events and Catering is spearheading a new collaborative effort to feed families served by area nonprofits while supporting restaurant and catering businesses across Spokane. The Care to Nourish program launched in late December and currently involves seven restaurants and caterers that are also
The Homeless Alliance will deliver to their clients and will not have an in-person distribution.
Food and toy distribution:
1 to 3 p.m. on Dec. 23 at the St. James Catholic School, 4201 S. McKinley.
11 a.m. to 2 p.m. on Dec. 24 at the First Baptist Church of Oklahoma City, 1201 N. Robinson.
2 to 4 p.m. on Dec. 24 at the Boys and Girls Club, 3535 N. Western.
2 to 4 p.m. on Dec. 24 at the Northeast Community Center, 3815 N Kelley.
Toy distribution:
9 a.m. to noon on Dec. 24 at the Joe Carter Parking Lot at 400 E Reno.