Spokane, WA: Example of the Homeless Problem

Nancy Churchill published an article yesterday titled "Reclaim Spokane," in which she makes some excellent observations about what is driving the explosion of homelessness in her city.

And it isn't what the "elite" Leftists have been telling us.

Nor will the news media report it, because it simply doesn't fit their "we need more affordable housing" narrative.

Interestingly, others in other parts of the country are on the same page as Nancy.

It's not about "affordable housing."

Be informed, not misled.

Nancy Churchill asks, "Why does Spokane have a homeless problem?"

Spokane’s homeless crisis isn’t just a city problem—it’s a warning to every mid-sized community that’s gone soft on enforcement and big on ideology. Yes, housing costs have gone up, but blaming rent is a smokescreen. The real issue is policy failure—soft camping rules, hands-off policing, and public services so generous they pull people in from all over.

The Spokane Business Association ran its own numbers. They found over half of the city’s homeless population moved here after becoming homeless. In other words, they didn’t lose their homes in Spokane—they arrived already on the streets. The city’s 2025 “Point-in-Time” count claims only 14% came from out of town, but even city council members aren’t buying it.

Councilman Jonathan Bingle called it out: “Our 2023 PIT count said two-thirds weren’t from Washington.”

Let’s be honest—housing is just a piece of this puzzle. Since 2018, home prices in Spokane shot up nearly 70%, but wages stayed flat. Still, that doesn’t explain the tent cities, the addiction, or the mental health breakdowns.

Phil Altmeyer, who’s been with Union Gospel Mission for over 40 years, laid it out plainly: “Street homelessness, you can trace that back to the beginning of legalization of marijuana and the increase of meth.” Addiction and untreated mental illness—not rent—are what’s driving this crisis.

Churchill says, "If most folks on the streets didn’t even start here, and long-time providers are warning us about the drug surge, then we’ve got to stop pretending this is about affordability. It’s about choices—both personal and political—and Spokane has been making the wrong ones for too long."

She continues to specifically identify what wrong choices Spokane has been making.

Bob Hoge, writing for Red State, says, "Bombshell Study Reveals Real Reason Behind Surge in Homelessness, and It's Not What the Dems Tell You."

He writes that it’s a “housing crisis.” It’s because Republicans are evil and don’t care about the downtrodden. It’s because capitalism is cruel. It's because we don't throw enough money at the problem.

We’re talking about the homelessness crisis, and the Democrats who are in charge of many of the cities hardest hit by the devastation will blame almost anything other than their own failed policies. But according to a study from researchers at the University of Chicago and Dartmouth College—not exactly institutions known as conservative bastions—there’s another reason behind the startling rise in the homeless population, and it’s not what Gavin Newsom, JB Pritzker, and the mainstream media are telling you.

The study was released in April, but I can’t remember CNN, MSNBC, the New York Times, or any other liberal outlet talking about it. The paper, titled simply, “Asylum Seekers and the Rise in Homelessness,” is getting renewed attention, and the abstract pretty much tells you everything you need to know.

This is the abstract:

Data from the Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) indicate an unprecedented 43 percent increase in the number of people residing in homeless shelters in the United States between 2022 and 2024, reversing the gradual decline over the preceding sixteen years. Three-quarters of this rise was concentrated in four localities – New York City, Chicago, Massachusetts, and Denver – where large inflows of new immigrants seeking asylum were housed in emergency shelters. Using direct estimates from local government sources and indirect methods based on demographic changes, we estimate that asylum seekers accounted for about 60 percent of the two year rise in sheltered homelessness during this period, challenging media and policy narratives that primarily attribute this rise to local economic conditions and housing affordability.

Savanna Hernandez posted, "When I was in NYC reporting on this just 3 months ago, the city stated that 65,000 illegals were in NYC. They’re now saying it’s over 93,000. Last year Adams stated that NYC was set to spend $1 billion to house migrants; that estimate is now over  $4.2 billion."

When I was in NYC reporting on this just 3 months ago, the city stated that 65,000 illegals were in NYC.

They’re now saying it’s over 93,000.

Last year Adams stated that NYC was set to spend $1 billion to house migrants, that estimate is now over $4.2bpic.twitter.com/d7sddLRXip

— Savanah Hernandez (@sav_says_) August 2, 2023

One of the researchers, the University of Chicago's Bruce Meyer, said Trump’s border policies should help ease the disaster created by Democrats: "Substantially more than half of the increase in homelessness comes from migration, rather than new individuals falling into poverty."

He also said, "Federal immigration policy changes under the Trump administration that narrow pathways to asylum are likely to slow the growth of sheltered homelessness in the years ahead."

Why haven’t you heard more about this study? 

Meyer thinks he knows: He said his paper, which partly backs President Donald Trump's border crackdown, was proving 'unpopular' in academic circles - a factor he believes might explain why it has been largely ignored by the mainstream media.

According to a count in 2024, more than 771,800 people are homeless in the U.S. on any given night, with the biggest numbers in New York and California, two sanctuary states with soft-on-crime laws and progressive governors.

Here are the 10 states with the most homeless people:

1. California: 181,399
2. New York: 103,200
3. Florida: 30,756
4. Washington: 28,036
5. Texas: 27,377
6. Oregon: 20,142
7. Massachusetts: 19,141
8. Colorado: 14,439
9. Arizona: 14,237
10. Pennsylvania: 12,556

Hoge says, "Now we know why the numbers exploded. Thanks, California Gov. Gavin Newsom, thanks, New York Gov. Kathy Hochul, thanks, former President Joe Biden and all your “progressive” brethren. You earned this. "

Thank you, President Trump

President Donald Trump on Thursday signed an executive order to empower state and local governments to remove homeless individuals from the nation’s streets.

The order, Ending Crime and Disorder on America’s Streets, directs Attorney General Pam Bondi “to reverse judicial precedents and end consent decrees” that have hindered “local governments’ ability to commit individuals on the streets who are a risk to themselves or others,” per a White House fact sheet.

According to the document, the order issues a number of other directives, including redirecting funding to make sure vagrants “causing public disorder” or who are seriously mentally ill are moved into treatment facilities:

• The Order requires the Attorney General to work with the Secretary of Health and Human Services, Secretary of Housing and Urban Development, and the Secretary of Transportation to prioritize grants for states and municipalities that enforce prohibitions on open illicit drug use, urban camping and loitering, and urban squatting, and track the location of sex offenders.
• The Order redirects funding to ensure that individuals camping on streets and causing public disorder and that are suffering from serious mental illness or addiction are moved into treatment centers, assisted outpatient treatment, or other facilities.
• The Order ensures discretionary grants for substance use disorder prevention, treatment, and recovery do not fund drug injection sites or illicit drug use.
• The Order stops sex offenders who receive homelessness assistance from being housed with children, and allows programs to exclusively house women and children.

The White House notes that homelessness on a given night reached its peak under President Joe Biden when 272,224 people lived on the streets of America on one particular date.

Takeaway

Federal and state governments have spent tens of billions of dollars on failed programs that address homelessness but not its root causes, leaving other citizens vulnerable to public safety threats.

What the Trump administration realizes and the Democrats refuse to accept is that homelessness is, actually, two very distinct problems. One is financial, the other is a matter of addiction and mental health.

Financial homelessness is fairly easy to address. The evicted mother living in her car can be given temporary housing and job assistance. She really does just need a hand up.

Homelessness related to mental illness and addiction, however, isn’t really a homelessness problem at all; it's an addiction and mental illness problem, and just letting people in tents shoot up in what was once a thriving downtown commercial district doesn’t solve it.

Ultimately, Jesus is the answer. Not the government. God can forgive the sin, deliver the individual, and restore the person with a new life in Christ. I've seen God work in people's lives thousands of times in my life of ministry.

Be Informed. Be Discerning. Be Vigilant. Be Grateful. Be Prayerful.