Today we’d like to introduce you to Julie Garcia.
Julie, we appreciate you taking the time to share your story with us today. Where does your story begin?
I started handing out sandwiches in front of the House of Charity because people were hungry. I knew what House of Charity was because my daughter struggles with addiction and Heroin has been her drug of choice for years. She is sober currently, but Jason and I raise our five year old granddaughter. I soon realized people were cold. I started bringing clothing and sandwiches to people experiencing homelessness, and one carload turned into one truck, then two trucks. I exhausted all my family and friend’s options for left over clothing and blankets, so I decided to ask the whole city. In 2018 while I was busy handing out clothing, a warming center opened. I went there to see if we could help. There was a group of folks providing meals and we jumped on board to help. We soon realized the undertaking was providing 300-350 meals a night. Volunteers dwindled due to flu or exhaustion. There was a small group that continued to show up night after night with meals. In 2018 JHH prepared and served over 100,000 meals. Seven nights a week for six months. We never missed a night. We also were donated a mobile shower unit that was not working. JHH raised 2000 dollars and made that unit workable. We provided 850 showers that winter/summer. This was when outreach became a thing for us. We began going out every night to keep people alive during the winter. We provided all basic needs. These were all donated items.
In 2019, JHH became a non profit so that we could bid on a city contract for a shelter. We lost that bid but were asked in October to run a city-funded warming center. We agreed. This is where things got crazy. This happened during a mayoral race and a brutal city council race. JHH was attacked by political candidates, and our past and the past of our volunteers was exploited and used to fuel this race. My partner Jason Green was previously incarcerated and JHH was scrutinized because of this. We continued on. Two weeks before we were scheduled to open the city funded warming center, JHH received an email asking us to vacate the building until an investigation into Jason Green was launched. JHH refused to vacate the building. We had not broken the contract. The new mayor tried to eliminate the warming center but had already signed a contract. The city delayed opening but JHH continued on in spite of the cities attempts to derail us. Cannon street warming center became a model of how successful warming centers and how to operate one. We used our core values and stood firm to our mission statement. JHH is a second chance employer. We have realized that people experiencing homelessness, people struggling with addiction and those with criminal barriers are the key to successful outreach and peer support amongst this population. During our five months at Cannon, we served 15,499 people experiencing homelessness in 159 nights of being open.
One thousand eight hundred sixty-two unique individuals’ We provided 3,975 showers in our mobile shower unit. Forty-nine people obtained permanent housing and 95 individuals formally or currently experiencing homelessness were employed by JHH. We asked for the help of the community and they answered the call 261 individual donors provided 83,579 dollars worth of supplies or good for Cannon Street warming center, including a new solar powered shower trailer. Covid hit during our time at the warming center. JHH used the downtown library to social distance our guests and became a triage for those experiencing Covid. JHH’s goal was to prove that shelters could be run and still be fiscally responsible to taxpayers and the city that funds them. JHH was able to run both centers for the same cost that was budgeted for 2019-2020 warming center. April 30th was the day our contract with the city concluded. As we prepared for closing the center, we were told to hold off as the contract was to be extended due to Covid.
On April 29th, the city of Spokane decided to defy Governor Inslee’s shelter in place order and close the center with no plans for the 120 people staying in both places. We were forced to act quick and ask for help. Community activists began making calls as JHH purchased 100 tents and began setting up a tent city in a local park. The media caught wind, and it became another City blunder that stained the new mayor and her plan to stop building shelters and forcing people to jail or treatment. She was forced to keep Cannon Street open but decided on a new operator to ensure JHH could not further embarrass her policy. JHH continued showers and outreach throughout the summer of Covid. We are the only free and no barrier shelter in our county. We did 8000 showers in 2020. JHH began working with a street medical team that was able to assess people experiencing homelessness where they were. This program has since grown and street medical provides five days a week outreach to folks in shelters and on the street. Doctors and med students assist in this team.
As well as SNAP, outreach teams and Spokane Regional Health Department. We together are able to assess for Covid, test in the field, vaccinate for Hep A and B, provide emergency medical and minor emergencies treatment and refer and screen people experiencing homelessness. JHH also provides a mobile food bank and a mobile clothing bank with no barriers. JHH delivers pre-made food boxes into the community five days a week. We average 50,000 lbs. a week delivered. JHH has opened six pop up warming/cooling centers and currently runs a non city-funded warming center that provides safety, security, dignity and kindness to 35 individuals a night at our current location. JHH is a community-based organization and operates on community donations. Our average donation is $20.00. I began this adventure when I began to dive into trauma, addiction and loss of connection. I could not figure out why I, someone with 8 of 10 Aces scores and a lifetime of trauma and bad decisions, had somehow never become homeless. I found that homeless people have a few things in common, even though each reason someone became homeless is different. They have all suffered or still suffer from deep personal trauma and loss of community. That is what has kept me from becoming homeless, and I had a support system. I had a connection to others and my community. I set out to be that connection for those who had lost theirs. JHH and myself personally have built relationships with our clients/guests/friends experiencing homelessness that have made us be able to help them build bridges with the community.
I personally have 8 of 10 Aces scores, have struggled with my own personal trauma, which led me to be a single mom with four children. I began my journey of healing when I figured out how to handle and live with trauma. Trauma responses have proven to be an issue in my old life. I learned how to control them and actually fix the responses trauma had taught me to exhibit. It took a lot of years before I could say I was sexually assaulted and that I had contributed to the trauma of my children. I stayed in an abusive and toxic relationship for 16 years and my children experienced their own trauma because of my choice to stay. I have learned I can not fix that, but what I can do is lead by example. Show a different way to do things. a healthier, safer and less trauma-inducing way. That is how I run JHH. We lead by example. An example that everyone can change, no one gets left behind, everyone deserves dignity and respect, and broken people can provide Hope. JHH is a leading agency to assist people experiencing homelessness in our county. It started with some peanut butter sandwiches and a whole lot of love and determination. I am a small town raised, brown woman and in an area in which racial tensions are high and not accepting. I have been stalked and my home assaulted by white nationalists. My home is posted on their websites, and they have sought out my home, children and work. I have stayed the course. That is what Jewels does. We stay the course, follow our mission and love people. All people. especially the broken ones.
We all face challenges, but looking back, would you describe it as a relatively smooth road?
The biggest challenge is funding. Currently, we have three locations we could open in donated space but do not have operations funding and the city of Spokane’s ongoing, one-sided fueled dislike of us has made the city leaning in and helping not an option. JHH has really used our voice and have been able to get a lot accomplished, but not without a price. The mayor of our beautiful city has taken a personal disliking to what we do as it contradicts all her policy that won her the mayoral seat in the first place.
Thanks – so what else should our readers know about Jewels Helping Hands?
Providing basic needs to people experiencing homelessness, food insecure and low income populations within our community with kindness, dignity and respect.
What was your favorite childhood memory?
I grew up in a strict religious, Hispanic family. They taught me community. Where I grew up, there were no people experiencing homelessness. There were just neighbors who struggled. We all helped each other. My mom has organized a toy and food giveaway for 40 years in our hometown. Some of my favorite memories are helping others. Giving.
- Email: jewelshelpinghandsspokane@gmail.com
- Website: Jewelshelpinghands.org
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/groups/282856762255273/
- Other: https://youtu.be/xSkhNBNndmg, https://youtu.be/WnpeS2RwHLg, https://youtu.be/kkcJnDilzjM and https://youtu.be/uq_HYZa6fFs
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