SPOKANE, Wash. — Dozens of people lined up outside the Spokane Convention Center on Thursday morning to access resources through Spokane Homeless Connect.
Once a year, the event brings together organizations that offer free services for people experiencing homelessness across Spokane.
Attendees can get a haircut, clean clothes, a hot meal and can also get connected to resources for bigger challenges like addiction and mental illness.
Rockwell McKean has attended the event for the past few years and said working with one of the organizations helped change his life.
“I have a felony, a bunch of felonies for assault, and they got me off the street and into housing, and now I’m through counseling and the counseling is good,” he said.
Rockwell has been working with Revive, an organization that provides behavioral health services and supportive housing and employment resources.
The organization also offers addiction treatment and doesn’t require patients to be sober before starting.
Rockwell said his caseworker, Tracy, made Revive feel like a family for him over the last five years.
“She’s been there working with me a long time. I’m just thankful for her and all of the individuals there. They’ll get you off the streets if you want to be off the streets. Just go there and get clean and sober,” he said.
One of Rockwell’s favorite parts of Spokane Homeless Connect is all of the resources it has for pets. He attended the event to get some food for his dog.
He said it can be really hard to care for a pet when living on the street.
“He’s everything to me. He’s my emotional support animal, and without him, I’d probably be in prison,” he said.
For more information about the resources available through Spokane Homeless Connect, visit spokaneconnect.org.
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