An NPR member station
Play Live Radio
Next Up:
0:00
0:00
0:00 0:00
Available On Air Stations

Program Rewards Spokane Landlords Who Welcome Homeless Vets

http://www.discovergoodwill.org/galleries/retail-locations/goodwill-retail-locations/
Goodwill Industries of the Inland Northwest

The city of Spokane has set a goal to end veteran homelessness this year. A new program administered through Goodwill aims to help by giving landlords incentive to rent to veterans.

There are between 150 and 200 homeless vets in Spokane, according to the city, and the mayor’s office has set a goal to house 150 of them by September. Sheila Morley from the city’s Community, Housing, and Human Services department explains how a new program through Goodwill can take a chunk off that goal.

Morley: “Landlords that have available units that will house a veteran by the end of July, they will receive this hundred dollar incentive.”

She says the first 50 landlords that offer units will get one-hundred bucks, and the monthly rent for each vet would come from either housing vouchers or rental assistance programs. The city is funding the program.

Morley is part of a leadership team with city leaders, housing agencies and Goodwill who are working on housing the homeless. She says identifying willing landlords is one of their biggest challenges.

Copyright 2015 Spokane Public Radio

Related Content