SPOKANE, Wash. — Extreme heat is setting in on Spokane.
To help people get relief from near-triple digit temperatures, non-profits are stepping up to provide resources to keep people safe, hydrated and fed.
Compassionate Addiction Treatment is offering free water and food out of its downtown center and several pop-up tents around Spokane.
C.A.T. community advocacy peer Angel Tomeo-Sam said when non-profit leaders came together when they heard a heat wave was coming to Spokane, knowing people would need their resources.
“It didn’t take much to make a phone call here, there and then set a whole chain of events, and now we have this effort called "Cool Spokane,” Tomeo-Sam said.
Tomeo-Sam said C.A.T. is able to help people get food and water, while simultaneously giving them the opportunity to get recovery and addiction resources.
“This is a safe environment for people to come in off of the street and get some water,” Tomeo-Sam said.
Volunteers are also stationed at pop-up tents passing out water and food and providing a shady place to get out of the heat.
One person said she found out volunteers were needed through a friend on Facebook.
She said she volunteered because she knows there are vulnerable people in the community that need basic resources.
“It’s just a sigh of relief when they can get some water or sit in some shade and you know, that these people need it and the city's not doing anything to make sure that they're okay during this heat wave," volunteer Veronica Hawkins said. "So being the one to help to do that is amazing."
Near I-90, Jewels Helping Hands is setting up two large cooling tents.
Organizer Julie Garcia said the tents will have cots, fans, water and a portable shower station.
Garcia said the the tents should be able to accommodate 200 people.
She said the tents are the result of stepping up to support the community when the city can't be relied on.
"We can't always rely on the government to fix everything," Garcia said. "We know how well that works. So this is a community solution and it's going to take a community to help these folks out."
Her plan is to get tents up and operating by Tuesday.
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