News & Publications

SPOKANE, Wash. - Women fleeing abusive relationships, struggling with addiction or mental illness have found safety for 20 years inside Hope House -- a shelter operated by Volunteers of America.

Inside Crosswalk Teen Shelter – Spokane’s oldest emergency youth shelter – there’s a common area on the first floor no bigger than a school lunch room.

It’s a space of all trades, jack of none: eat, learn, make friends, play and even sleep. Flanked by rows of hideaway beds that look like large white wardrobes, when the sun goes down, so too do the metal furniture handles near the top, revealing 18 hideaway beds.

“We’re just bursting at the seams,” said Fawn Schott, president and CEO of Volunteers of America, which runs the shelter. “We have no more space.”

The city had $30 million to spend on homeless and housing programs. Catholic Charities, Open Doors and Volunteers of America’s Crosswalk teen shelter were three of 24 programs that received less funding than they had previously. Twenty-one other programs received the same level of funding or more for homeless services.

With federal and state tax credit project support for Housing First for chronically homeless people, Catholic Charities of Spokane and Volunteers of America of the Inland Northwest are collaborating to build two neighboring 50-unit permanent supportive housing facilities on the 200 block of East Second Ave. in Spokane...

Spokane is about to undergo a major expansion of Housing First projects. Catholic Charities will break ground on another 50-unit housing project this spring – right next door to a similar project by Volunteers of America. And those are just the first of several projects... “Our goal is by 2019 we will have a unit for every chronically homeless person in Spokane.”...

Jenny Shea, center, a volunteer at Volunteers of America, listens to a panel discussion about preventing suicide among young people Tuesday at Gonzaga University. Shea works with older teens in the foster care system. The daylong conference included discussions about effective programs, multistate coordination and counseling techniques...

This Mother’s Day, with your help, nearly 150 low-income elderly and disabled women come out of their small apartments to be whisked away to a wonderful celebration at the downtown Spokane Doubletree—our 17th annual I Remember Mama Mother’s Day luncheon.

Once a week for most of the year, nine white-haired elves lean over workbenches at Rockwood Lane retirement community, carving and crafting beautiful new toys for children in need.

2014 Annual Report: The difference your dollars make,16th Annual Hope House Celebrity Fashion Show, and other news.