Spokane Valley Homeless Housing Task Force Meeting – October 26, 2026

The Spokane Valley Homeless Housing Task Force met to receive updates on two forthcoming RFPs and the regional Point-in-Time Count, welcome two new members, and approve the July 2026 meeting minutes. The agenda lists the meeting date as October 22, 2026, while the source metadata indicates October 26, 2026; this summary uses the metadata date.

Consent Calendar

• The July 2026 meeting minutes were approved unanimously by voice vote after the task force reached a quorum.

Public Comments & Testimony

• No public comments were offered during the general public comment opportunity.

New Member Introductions

• Bryn/Brent Eichenberger, a registered nurse and Director of Utilization and Care Management at CHAS Health, introduced themselves and expressed excitement about aligning their work with the task force. They noted that CHAS has a clinic in Spokane Valley and mobile outreach teams that work alongside the city’s team.
• Jessica Lowry, the new CEO of the Spokane Valley Chamber of Commerce, was welcomed. She shared her six months with the Chamber and prior nonprofit experience with Hutton Settlement Children’s Home and Joya Child and Family Development.

Housing and Homeless Program RFPs Update

• Staff reported that the City Council approved the task force’s recommendation to move forward with the Affordable Housing and Supportive Sales Tax RFP. Funding may be used for rental assistance, new affordable housing units, operational assistance for affordable housing, and some administrative costs.
• The RFP is expected to offer up to $1 million. The task force was told the fund balance is approximately $1.4 million, with another $200,000 expected in early 2027, and annual revenues are roughly $200,000.
• Staff noted contracts could be multi-year, possibly up to two years, depending on the project type, with construction projects requiring more time.
• The Homeless Outreach Services RFP was also discussed. The current contract with Frontier Behavioral Health expires June 30, 2027, and competitive bidding is required. The RFP is expected to be released before the end of the year, possibly in November, with a special task force meeting likely in the spring to meet the timeline.
• Eric and Gretchen described the co-deployment model where case managers and social workers work alongside two dedicated homeless outreach deputies. For 2026, the team has helped 60 households into permanent housing, including 20 households in the last quarter, and was described as very strong compared with county-funded outreach performance metrics.
• Several members expressed support for potentially expanding the number of dedicated homeless outreach deputies, but noted budget limitations. Public safety already makes up about 65% of the budget, and the expected public safety contract increase is approximately 20%, prompting one member to say “math gets in the way of communication."
• A member asked Frontier about TrueBlood-eligible clients in the valley. Frontier representatives said there are only a handful in the valley, though more are on downtown caseloads, and that TrueBlood resources are not reported to HMIS. Discussion included interest in better communicating TrueBlood eligibility to shelters and outreach teams.

Point in Time Count Update

• Staff explained that the Point-in-Time Count, which counts sheltered and unsheltered people on a single night in January, will now be conducted every other year because federal and state guidelines aligned and the local CoC voted for that change. The next PIT Count will be in January 2028.
• The single-night PIT Count was compared with other data sources: the PIT Count is closer to 2,000, the HMIS-based LSA report showed about 7,000 people over the year, and a state Department of Commerce report estimated about 17,000 people in the county are homeless or unstably housed.
• Ariel Anderson added that improved HMIS data entry by street outreach teams provides a more accurate and useful picture than the one-night count. A member expressed relief and agreed the data point was not worth the annual effort.

Key Outcomes

• The task force approved the July 2026 meeting minutes unanimously.
• No other action items were taken.
• Next steps include releasing the two RFPs, likely before the end of the year, and continuing to review proposals through the task force before recommendations go to City Council.