SPOKANE, Wash. – The affordable housing crisis in Spokane is leaving many residents struggling to find a place to live. Nikolas Alltonen, who has been homeless since 2012, is one of those affected. Despite his efforts, he cannot secure housing.
“I offered literally six months of rent as an additional deposit, they says they have to run it through a computer, the computer says no because I just don’t have enough bills in my name,” Alltonen said.
Alltonen’s search for housing has been ongoing for three years. Without a recent rental or credit history, he finds it nearly impossible to secure a place.
Sarah Littlejohn fears she might face a similar situation. After being laid off, she had to move out of her home as her entire income went towards her $1,500 rent. With no affordable options, she moved in with a friend.
“Unless I get a good paying job like the last one I won’t find a place, it’s just too expensive,” Littlejohn said. “My girls are struggling… and I have a granddaughter too and it’s just one day at a time I guess. If we all become homeless we’ll just share a box I guess.”
“There’s not enough affordable housing. Not enough in Spokane, not enough in the state of Washington,” Aaron Riley, the director of essential connections at SNAP (Spokane Neighborhood Action Partners), said.
The U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development defines affordable housing as spending 30% or less of monthly income on housing costs, including utilities. However, Eastern Washington University reports that over half of Spokane County renters exceed this threshold, with 28% spending more than half of their income on housing.
Kelsey Carlston, an economics professor at Gonzaga, pointed out the increasing number of chronically homeless individuals in Spokane. “One thing that is the most troubling is, if you look instead at the number of chronically homeless people, that’s been increasing at a much sharper rate,” Carlston said.
According to data Carlston shared with NonStop Local from the U.S. Census, the fair market rent for a two bedroom unit in Spokane has risen from $693 a month in 2010, to $1033 a month in 2022, a rise of 49%.
The Spokane Housing Authority is also feeling the strain. Kelly Keenan from the authority stated, “All the existing vouchers that we have out in the community have increased in cost every single month.”
The federal government recently ordered the Spokane Housing Authority to stop issuing new Housing Choice Vouchers, which help make housing affordable by paying a portion of rent to landlords.
“They’ve increased to the point that when we see those projections, assistance costs are going to go past the budget authority that HUD has provided us to distribute that assistance,” Keenan explained.
At SNAP, they’ve also felt the crunch. Their website lists a variety of programs, including an affordable housing program, a foreclosure prevention program, an eviction prevention program and so much more. What’s missing: a program like SHA’s rental assistance program, which their eviction prevention program used to be able to do, but funding has limited things.
“In 2020 we probably paid out maybe about $3-$4 million in rental assistance. And now, looking at our current grant, we only have about $900,000 so that’s kind of as you can see, the difference is quite significant,” Riley said. “We’re pretty much kind of limiting (the current program) to 12 months… So anyone that’s 14, 15 (or) 16 months behind on rent, they’re probably not going to get the eviction prevention assistance, because the guidelines are set up where we can only help for up to 12 months to make the money stretch.”
For individuals like Alltonen, who could benefit from these programs, the situation is dire. And for those older than him, it’s even worse.
“Probably 70% of the people I see are over 50,” Connie Nelson, a homeless services manager at SNAP, said. “For those who (also) have a disability other than age, their incomes aren’t going to change… So they have limited income, no resources, and now their rent has gone up $500. And they are not suited for living on the street.”
The seniors SNAP sees, usually have one thing in common.
“People who did entry-level work… therefore what was being paid into Social Security wasn’t as much as someone who’s maybe with a college degree or advanced degree” Riley explained. “When they get on disability, they may only be getting $600-$800 a month. Let’s say, in Spokane $1,100 is fair market rent. So if your income is only $800 you’re, you’re $300 less, and you can’t spend 100% of your income on housing, because how are you gonna feed yourself? How are you gonna pay for your utilities, how are you going to pay for medical costs?”
The situation can be the difference between life or death.
“We look at housing as health care. If you have housing, you can then think about health and think about taking meds,” Riley said. “You’ve been on the streets for over two to three years, your health has declined to where – we’ve gotten people into housing and unfortunately within the next month, they pass away.”
For Alltonen, who spent the money he put aside for housing on a beat-up car to stay warm this winter after the Trent Resource and Assistance Center (TRAC) closed at the end of October, the rat race is becoming unsustainable.
“It’s impossible to get a place almost. And the more you try the more you fail, you just feel like giving up… on everything,” Alltonen emphasized.