Spokane unveils ‘Home Starts Here’ package to expand shelters, change camping rules and target opioid-related services

Mayor Lisa Brown announced a package of ordinances and programs called “Home Starts Here,” a citywide plan aimed at preventing homelessness, expanding shelter options and improving outreach and treatment for people living on Spokane’s streets.

The package includes three principal elements: updated rules for siting and neighborhood notice for shelters, a requirement for “good neighbor” agreements with shelter providers, and a consolidated citywide ordinance on unauthorized camping and obstruction of public access. The plan also adds investments in outreach, sobering beds and treatment through opioid settlement dollars and sets measurable metrics to track outcomes.

Home Starts Here is intended as “a unified strategy that meaningfully addresses the complex factors that contribute to housing instability,” Mayor Lisa Brown said. “Today, we're announcing a package of proposals to truly address homelessness and root causes contributing to people who are suffering in our community or barely hanging on.”

Why it matters: City leaders said the measures aim to reduce visible encampments while increasing the chance that people who are unsheltered are connected to services and housing rather than moved from block to block. Officials also said the plan ties shelter siting and outreach to data and performance metrics to measure outcomes such as reductions in renter cost burdens and increases in housing access.

Key provisions and details

- Inclement-weather activation:…