The City of Spokane is getting tougher on homeless camps popping up under I-90. Officials plan to break up the camps later this week,but several homeless people said whatever is implemented will not last. The City said it will provide a 24-hour notice before it takes any action. Officials also want to connect the homeless with services.

The Spokane Homeless Coalition said its representatives are collecting information from people who are camping to better understand their needs and what is prevent them from seeking housing. A spokesperson for the SHC said shelters get full during the winter, and some require identification which some homeless people do not have.

The City of Spokane says it'll get tough on a tent city that's been pitched under I-90 downtown by first offering social services to the homeless camping out there, and then giving them 24 hours to vacate.

That might make you wonder where will they go, and the answer is there are shelters in Spokane for the homeless right now that are not full.

At the House of Charity, where men can go even if they've been drinking, there's 108 beds, and they've only turned away 12 men so far this year due to capacity issues. At Hope House for single women there are 34 beds and they haven't turned anyone away this winter. At the Union Gospel Mission on Trent, the men's shelter hasn't been full since 1990, when they opened. They said they'd gladly welcome anyone from the tent city inside their shelter when they're ready to straighten up but, they added, it will take a concerted effort from the entire community to help make that happen.

"We want to end homelessness by teaching responsibility, choices and then when you make the right choices, these are the results," Union Gospel Mission executive director Phil Altmeyer said.

Altmeyer thinks Spokane's citizens have created a place under I-90 that's comfortable for the homeless so they stay. "If you feed those people while they're there, they will stay there and we want to bring them out of that," he explained. "That's why people bring them the food, they want to help them, they have compassion, but I think sometimes we don't realize we're enabling people to stay in the condition they're in." If there's no more help under I-90 they'll need to seek out one of Spokane's shelters, he added.

¶ 3:10 AM