SPOKANE, Wash. — Rosi Johnson spent four years in Northwest Spokane, renting a house with her husband and her dog. But when the Old Trails fire swept through her old neighborhood near Fairmount Memorial Park, she was left without a place to stay.
“The hard part is, we lost everything,” Johnson said.
Johnson is among many renters grappling with the aftermath of the fires. Unlike homeowners, renters can face unique challenges when disaster strikes.
Johnson says she did not have renters’ insurance when her home burned. However, the property management company had a policy for the building itself.
“They just called me and said, okay, we know you have this much policy and we’re going to give you an extra thousand dollars to get started and we’ll take it from here,” Johnson said.
Within a week of losing the house she lived in, Johnson was able to work with resources, like Spokane Housing Authority, that helped her secure a new apartment on the South Hill.
Her household qualified for Spokane Housing Authority’s voucher system, a program that provides rental assistance to individuals and families earning up to 50 percent of the area median income.
The agency covered 90 percent of her new apartment’s deposit, while Johnson paid the remaining 10 percent. Spokane Housing Authority also says Rosi was helped through the agency’s natural disaster assistance preference program, which fast tracked the process to get her housing.
“All I can say is… try to contact the right people and find your resources,” Johnson said.
Rosi says she will continue to look for a house to rent back in Northwest Spokane, a community her family feels at home.
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