Sounding Board: Letters to Editor, Commentaries
Family Promise, Refugee Coalition share visions
Do you know what we want most at Family Promise of Spokane?
To no longer exist.
We know the completion of our mission—equipping families and communities to end the cycle of homelessness—means there will be no need for us once that is done. We welcome that future.
To some, a future without homelessness may seem out of reach, even naive. We say otherwise. In our broader community, people subconsciously believe that homelessness must be because it has been for so long. It's just the way it is.
Homelessness isn't some unfortunate fact of life. It's a complex issue, to be sure, and the pathways into homelessness are as numerous and varied as the folks who fall into them. Once we broke it down, examined the data and talked to families, we realized our community's approach to homelessness fails in a significant way.
Many solutions to homelessness begin and end with shelters. The idea is that once someone gets into a shelter, they can focus on rebuilding their life. Although shelters serve an important function in mitigating homelessness, they cannot solve it on their own. Shelters are not homes. That difference matters.
All roads lead to home—or in some cases, the lack of one. Safe and stable housing provides the literal and figurative groundwork for anyone to thrive. Children need the consistency housing provides. Parents need its security. Kids need a place to study. Parents need a place to cook. The whole family needs a safe place to sleep.
Housing is inherent to our social lives as well: Where do you live? Where are you from? Home is where the heart is. There's no place like home. These common questions and sayings reveal that many people derive a true sense of self from home, which helps define who we are to ourselves and others every day.
Homes foster a sense of belonging and community. They situate us within a neighborhood, alongside other families and people with whom we share food, smiles and memories. They bring people together and anchor them in a world that seems to spin a bit faster.
While shelters provide some degree of safety and community, a shelter alone cannot stabilize a homeless person, let alone an entire family. Homelessness is inherently traumatizing, and while shelters provide a necessary stopgap, they do not provide the same level of autonomy and stability that a home does. Shelters do not stop the cycle of homelessness.
If we connect the dots, a child in homelessness grows up to become an adult in homelessness to become a parent in homelessness, and so the cycle continues—and it isn't for a lack of trying. Someone who grew up homeless often lacks resources, family support and knowledge that many take for granted. So, what if we address these deficiencies a lack of stable housing creates?
The cycle breaks when our efforts against it go beyond shelters and jails. Our approach shifts and expands. Prevention is the best medicine. Band-aids don't heal wounds by themselves—the body does. Prevention, as an approach, cares for the body of problems that make up homelessness, rather than its most visible expressions.
Family Promise places families into homes, teaches them vital life skills and orients them towards their goals. We help them believe again. In the prevention approach, housing is step one. Whether it be work, schooling or even starting a business. Everything else follows.
Every day at Family Promise of Spokane, we work alongside families whose stories inspire us. Their experiences offer brief glimpses into the future we're working for—one where every child has a home to return to at night.
For information, visit FamilyPromiseOfSpokane.org and sign up for a Come & See visit.
Samuel McLaughlin
Digital Marketing Associate
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The Eastern Washington Refugee Coalition (EWRC) is concerned that the administration has set the 2026 refugee admissions ceiling at 7,500, the lowest in the history of the U.S. Refugee Admissions Program (USRAP).
Most of these limited slots are reportedly reserved for a single group, leaving thousands of vulnerable individuals stranded. Many refugees have already been waiting for years—some even decades—for the chance to rebuild their lives in safety, and some who were finally scheduled to travel to the U.S. this year have seen their journeys abruptly canceled.
For 45 years, USRAP has stood as a beacon of hope and a testament to American leadership and humanitarian values. It has provided safety and opportunity to millions fleeing violence and persecution, while strengthening communities across the country. Here in Eastern Washington, refugees have revitalized neighborhoods, filled critical workforce gaps, and launched businesses that create jobs and spur local economic growth. They are teachers, healthcare workers and entrepreneurs who enrich our cultural and civic life.
Today, with more than 42 million refugees worldwide, the need for U.S. leadership is greater than ever. Restricting admissions and narrowing eligibility abandons persecuted religious minorities, allies of U.S. forces in Afghanistan and Iraq, and families fleeing war in Ukraine.
These decisions also carry economic consequences: studies show that reducing lawful pathways like USRAP could cost the U.S. economy nearly $900 billion between 2025 and 2028.
Under the Refugee Act of 1980, the president must consult with congressional leaders before setting the annual ceiling. These consultations have reportedly not yet occurred.
The Eastern Washington Refugee Coalition urges Congress to insist on a lawful, humane process and to advocate for a ceiling that reflects America's values—at least 50,000 admissions, consistent with prior commitments.
The coalition urges people to contact their representatives in Congress to express opposition to slashing refugee admissions and demand a resettlement program that prioritizes those most at risk.
Karen Garras
EWRC Communications Coordinator
