OCTOBER 19, 2020

THE CCE WEEKLY

NEWSLETTER
A MESSAGE FROM JULIA
We are now 8 weeks into the semester, just about halfway through Fall semester 2020! In many ways it has
seemed to fly by and then in other ways, and on certain days, the road has seemed a long one. Each of us are on
our own journey, navigating each step with consideration and constant mitigation, but the road we are traveling
intertwines and I am grateful for each connection that we are able to make with one another along the way.
I would like to share this poem taken from a book gifted from a dear
friend:
IN THIS ISSUE leaves
energy
the shifting between space + season
it’s all movement
Page 1: A Message from Julia into what’s new
Page 2: Dates to Note, CCE and possible
Programming News and do not fast forward
Updates into something you’re not ready for
or allow yourself
Pages 3-5: Social Justice to shrink back
Spotlight into what’s comfortable
Page 5: Social Justice Events growth lives in
the uneasiness
Page 6: CCE Bulletin Board the in-between
the unfinished sentence
you are a season of becoming
It would be wonderful to spend some time with as many of you as is possible ahead of the Thanksgiving break. A
survey was sent on Tuesday in the hope that you can share your availability the week of November 16. The original
survey did not allow for you to select both times, this one will allow you to do that.
Should you decide to return home at Thanksgiving, and in doing so spend the remainder of the semester studying
from home, I will do my utmost to provide opportunities for remote work. Unfortunately, I will not be able to
guarantee a continuation of the hours that you are currently working. The opportunity to work additional office
hours ahead of the break is open to you, please call me on (509) XXX-XXXX if you would like to coordinate
additional hours, that way we can ensure that we maintain social distancing in each of the suites.
Thank you to Nicole, Allison, Alyssa, Luisa, Miranda and Carly for sharing your plans, if you are planning to head
home can you please let me know, much appreciated!

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DATES TO NOTE
Wednesday, 10/22 – CCE Meeting 10-11:20 am
Monday, 10/26 - The CCE offices will be closed for Founder's Day
Tuesday, 10/27: Julia on vacation
Tuesdays: Student Staff Check-Ins 3:30-4:15 pm

CCE PROGRAMMING NEWS AND UPDATES

THE LOGAN HOUSE

If you are interested in living in intentional
community while engaging with the Logan
neighborhood, all while living a few blocks from
campus then consider applying for the Logan
House.
We are accepting applications until November 6,
apply here.
CEL
The CEL team are up and running and offering
both the opportunity to support students in
person and via Zoom, please refer to the
information that is posted to each of the
Reception desk for hours.
PROGRAMMING
All programs are now in full swing!
Please remember that the CCE website is a great
resource for helping students determine the
opportunities available for service this
semester.
On the website there is also a link for an interest
form should the program the student is
interested in be full or if students are seeking
other ways to connect with our office.
OPPORTUNITIES FOR
LEARNING ABOUT
SOCIAL JUSTICE
TOPICS
The opportunity is extended to all student
staff to participate in a Social Justice
event/webinars and be paid through your
work study hours for one event per month.
Carly will be sharing information weekly with
us all on opportunities to attend events,
these will mainly be virtual. If you learn of an
event please share the details (link etc) with
Carly (xxxxxxxx@gonzaga.edu).
Unlike previous semesters there is not an
expectation to attend, more an opportunity
for you personally. Appreciating that being on
Zoom can be tiring on the eyes, event
attendance will not be tracked, but if you do
attend an event please let Julia know the
date so that your timesheet hours will make
sense.

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SOCIAL JUSTICE SPOTLIGHT
By: Sophie Elliott, CCE Student Staff (xxxxxxxx@gonzaga.edu)
Quote of the Week: “Here is what we seek: a compassion that can stand in awe at what the poor have
to carry rather than stand in judgment at how they carry it.”- Father Greg Boyle
Topic of the Week: Homelessness in Spokane
Being a student, it can be very easy to stay in the
Gonzaga bubble and not see or explore much of
Spokane. I sometimes think Spokane is really small
because I only associate it with Gonzaga and the
small area surrounding it, but then I am reminded that
Spokane is the second largest city in Washington.
Since Spokane is a very large city, it also means that
its homeless population is very high. According to
spokanecity.org, in “January of 2017, a total of 1,090
persons or 879 households were homeless in
Spokane County” (Homelessness FAQ’s). To put this
into perspective, it is said that of 59 communities
similar to Spokane across the country, Spokane had
the fifth-highest homeless population in 2018.
Honestly, I don’t find these statistics surprising
because more often than not when I am walking
downtown, on the Centennial trail, or even in the
Logan I come across someone who is homeless.
Although I wish this wasn’t the case, my immediate
reaction when I see someone who is homeless is to
avoid having any interaction with them.
When reflecting on this, I have realized that the main
reason I do this is because I am afraid. I am afraid
because society has painted people who are
homeless with such a negative light that I don’t truly
understand the complexity of what it means to be
homeless.
I am often times too quick to blame people for their
situations, when research has shown me that most of
the time it isn’t someone’s personal fault that they
are homeless, it is the systems fault.
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The National Department of Housing and Urban
Development (HUD) defines homelessness as “people
who are living in a place not meant for human
habitation, in emergency shelter, in transitional
housing, or are exiting an institution where they
temporarily resided” (Changes...). Now this definition
defines what homelessness is, but it doesn’t talk
about what factors cause homelessness.
An article on the homelesshub uses the factors of
homelessness in the definition and although it is
based off of Canada, I think it can still be applied to
the United States. It defines homelessness as “an
extreme form of poverty characterized by the
instability of housing and the inadequacy of income,
health care supports, and social supports” (What is
Homelessness?). The article continues to state that
homelessness isn’t just a lack of shelter, “but rather
the intersection of a range of social exclusionary
factors that exacerbate poverty, limit opportunities,
and create barriers to fully participate in society”
(What is Homelessness?).
When talking about homelessness it is important to
recognize the idea of intersectionality and how
different aspects of people’s identities are more
likely to cause them to experience homelessness.
When looking at homelessness in Spokane we can see
that there are many social factors that have led to
the 14% increase in the homeless population from
2014-2019. A recent survey done in Spokane stated
that “100 people cited alcohol and drug use as their
primary reason for homelessness, but more reported
an eviction, a lost job, a lack of income or a lack of
affordable housing led them into the shelter system
or to the street (Shanks).
Most of the time we assume that the reason people
are homeless is because they suffer from an
addiction or can’t hold a job and although those
SOCIAL JUSTICE SPOTLIGHT
(CONTINUED)
sometimes are the reason, it is a misconception that
those issues are strictly their fault. Because our
government doesn’t provide enough resources for
people with mental illness, disabilities, and other
vulnerable groups of people, they are more likely to
experience homelessness at some point in their life.
More than 30,000 of Spokane’s 220,000 residents
live below the poverty line and with a rental vacancy
of 3.3% in 2018 it is almost impossible for those
with a less than average income, to find somewhere
to live. The income required to afford fair market rent
also increased by nearly 20% for a one-bedroom
apartment and 17% for a two-bedroom apartment.
For every 100 tenants who are eligible to receive
subsidies for housing, there are only 12 units of
affordable housing available (Shanks). These
economic factors are infuriating and show how our
society has created this cycle of poverty that is
almost impossible to break.
On top of these economic factors, the homeless
population in Spokane is primarily unsheltered. The
city chose to end the 24/7 service provided by the
House of Charity in September of 2018 because it
was becoming overcrowded and causing many health
and safety issues. This 24-hour shelter was launched
as an experiment to see if it was a safe and effective
way to provide emergency housing and unfortunately,
they learned that it was not.
This change displaced many people who were staying
at House of Charity overnight, therefore making them
turn to the streets. Although this decision was very
unfortunate, the city worked on building another
shelter during this time and it officially opened its
doors on Thursday the 24th of September (Hill). This
shelter is called Mission Avenue Shelter, and it is
located on Mission and Division. The shelter will be
operated by the Salvation Army and will hopefully
serve as stable place for the homeless to stay during
this pandemic.
The social and economic factors that cause
homelessness have only been emphasized by the
pandemic. Just like how the pandemic and every
other social issue is more likely to impact people of
color, homelessness is as well. A heartbreaking
statistic states that African Americans make up 40
percent of the homeless population, despite only
representing 13 percent of the general population.
This statistic only reaffirms how the system is what
causes homelessness and not the people. The
intersectionality of people’s identities, especially
those of minority groups, causes people to be
oppressed in different ways and being more likely to
experience homelessness is just one of them
(Changes...).
My hope is that reading this better helps you
recognize the humanity in those who are facing
homelessness and the complexity of their
situations. It might be easier to assume that the
people who are homeless have put themselves in
that situation, but really it is our system and our
society that has failed to give them the proper
support and resources they need to lead full lives.
CCE’s vision statement is “We believe every person
has infinite worth and together we can create
as more just and equitable world.” we need to
continue to live out this vision statement by
recognizing the infinite worth in people who are
homeless.
Next time you see someone who is homeless, instead
of avoiding them I encourage you to say hi and start a
conversation, you never know what kind of difference
it can make in your life and theirs.
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SOCIAL JUSTICE SPOTLIGHT
(CONTINUED)
Action items:
1. Donate to shelter’s that help support the
homeless. Some of these include the house of
charity, catholic charities, and second harvest
you can also look up drives that are going on
around you
2. Volunteer at one of the shelter’s or food banks
3. Educate yourself through reading and research
a book that I found to be super impactful and
informative about poverty is Evicted which can be
found in the CCE library
4. Be kind to the people you see on the streets
here is a link to an inspiring video of The Voices of
the City Choir (a choir for people experiencing
homelessness in San Diego) who performed on
America’s Got Talent
Works Cited
“Changes in the HUD Definition of ‘Homeless.’”
National Alliance to End Homelessness, 19 Oct.
2016, endhomelessness.org/resource/changes-in-
the-hud-definition-of-homeless/.
Hill, Kip. “House of Charity, City of Spokane Agree to
End 24/7 Shelter, Citing Health and Safety
Concerns.” Spokesman.com, The Spokesman-Review,
24 July 2018,
www.spokesman.com/stories/2018/jul/25/house-of-
charity-city-of-spokane-agree-to-end-247-/.
“Homelessness FAQs.” Homelessness FAQs - City of
Spokane, Washington, 7 Sept. 2017,
my.spokanecity.org/endinghomelessness/about/faqs
/.
Roth, Author: Sara. “Why Spokane's Homeless
Population Is More Visible than Ever.” Krem.com, 3
Feb. 2019,
www.krem.com/article/news/investigations/2-on-
your-side/why-spokanes-homeless-population-is-
more-visible-than-ever/293-2b191003-c1b5-45f4-
8c1c-f126aeb2bb15.
Shanks, Adam. “As Economies Grow, so Does
Homelessness in Cities like Spokane, Evidence
Suggests.” Spokesman.com, The Spokesman-Review,
29 Oct. 2019,
www.spokesman.com/stories/2019/oct/30/as-
economy-grows-so-does-homelessness-in-cities-li/.
“What Is Homelessness?” What Is Homelessness? |
The Homeless Hub, homelesshub.ca/resource/what-
homelessness.
White, Rebecca. “'The Door Is Open': New Homeless
Shelter Opens in Emerson/Garfield, as Arena Site
Shuts Down.” Spokesman.com, The Spokesman-
Review, 14 Aug. 2020,
www.spokesman.com/stories/2020/aug/13/the-
door-is-open-new-homeless-shelter-opens-in-eme/.

SOCIAL JUSTICE EVENTS

The opportunity is extended to all CCE Student Staff to attend a social justice event/webinar once per month,
these will be paid hours. For timesheet purposes, please let Julia know when and which event you attended.
Zoom Event: “Examining the Impact of Race on Mass Incarceration and Excessive Sentencing”
October 21, 12:15-1:15 pm
Register with this link to be sent a Zoom link
Description: A part of the Social Justice Lunch Series. Professor Emeritus and author George Critchlow will
be discussing the topics of race, white privilege, and the criminal justice system with special guest
Jeremiah “JJ” Bourgeoisand moderator Professor Mary Pat Treuthart.
Hosted by: Center for Civil and Human Rights

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 CCE BULLETIN BOARD

TIMESHEET
REMINDERS
Don't forget to submit OPEN STUDENT
timesheets by midnight DON'T
on 10/31! Payday is CHECK-INS
11/10.
Tuesdays 3:30-4:15 pm and FORGET
Fridays 12-12:45 pm. Check
your Work Study calendars TO
for Zoom invitations.
Next week's
Newsletter will be
published on
Friday, 10/23 due VOTE
to Founder's Day. Keep safe and ZagOn!