Homeless Solutions were the topic. Thursday night was chilly at Whitworth college but the lecture hall was warm and full of concerned local residents. There weren’t many seats left open. New Hope Resource Center in Colbert WA invited renowned architect/author, Charles Durrett to speak. He began by pointing out that 206 homeless people died last year in Spokane. The deaths aren’t the only problem, there are significant additional costs to our community each year because of homelessness. Costs of $30-60k per homeless person are incurred for increased emergency medical services, law enforcement, and incarceration events. Solving the homeless problem may not be free of charge, but, doing something about it now makes a lot of sense.
Durrett shared about many of the successful “village” projects he has designed around the world. These communities have produced so many positive outcomes. He shared the grassroots strategies used to enable “doing something now” about homelessness, instead of waiting for a bureaucracy to move on to finding a solution.
Communities voluntarily have worked together to handle finances, planning, and permits, along with materials and labor costs. Working together they have successfully built communities where homeless people have a roof over their heads with a locking door. By providing a safe place to live we allow a person to connect with neighbors and build a community. “Villages” become a place of transition where disconnected homeless people can manage themselves, and then become part of society again.
Charles Durrett revealed methods to solve homelessness now. He talked with many people afterward. We left with a mood full of hope and the motivation to step out and make a difference. Become a part of Homeless Solutions in Spokane WA, and attend a public meeting tomorrow at the North Spokane County Library starting at 9:30 am.
Homeless Solutions
9:30 Saturday
November 5th, 2022
at the
North Spokane County Library
44 E Hawthorne Rd
I was so happy to travel to Coeur ‘d Alene for figure drawing class last night at 
A 2nd table for the children’s church is painted for the kids at CCOB (Country Church of the Open Bible). It has a mountain and animal theme and a quote, “I lift my eyes to the mountains,” from 
Now the winding river leads down to a small pond or lake surface where I will paint a reflection of the mountain on the smooth water surface.
The fun starts here as I put various animals in the scenery which I will hide so that a “Where is Waldo” game can be played. There is a total of how many animals are on the table. Only the children will know.
Now I can start to add leaves to the tree going up the right side of the table which will help to hide the critters in the tree and in the sky.
The moose is hiding behind the “s” in the word mountains.
There are many more added grass blades in many colors, and lots of leaves until it seems right. The final step is doing two coats of polyurethane varnish so that the table top is easy to clean.
He was always a truly kind soul and full of fun all of his life. I don’t think he had a mean bone in his body.
Here is a picture of him when he did not want his picture taken. This big guy came to us with many allergy problems but after we got them figured out, he was a joy to have in our home. He enjoyed getting dirty every day and splashing in his doggie pool often during the hot months so that the dust he’d lay in would stick well. Our house is never spotless. He was the first guy in the water at Elk Park.
He loved cold weather, and he would chase snowballs all day long. He’d go outside and roll all over in the snow and then just lay in it with a smile on his face.
We were truly blessed to be able to share so much of his life with him. He is already greatly missed.
The children’s church tables needed a facelift because the veneer on top was damaged and yucky looking and getting hard to clean. Linda spent a whole day stripping the top surface off, then scraping and sanding so there was clean wood. I got both the tables on my deck then and began restoring the tabletops. First, there is the primer layer to seal the particle board that was exposed. You should have seen how fast the primer is absorbed into that type of wood, especially when you are painting in 100 degree farenheight weather.
Wa La! we are finished after two coats of polyurethane to seal and protect everything.
The Spokane County Tax Assessor is Tom Konis. It was surprising to find that Konis is listed in our Voter’s Pamphlet as running Unopposed. Is this a good idea for a man who has made over 1-1/2 million dollars in this assessor’s office all ready to be handed the position for the next 4 years without any effort having to be put forth?
I made a Big Fish Craft for our church VBS program. The backdrop was made from a 4×8 sheet of mylar that Allison Kromer gave me, she had painted a Riverside High School backdrop on it. Allison your mylar is now, “the big orange fish” at the 
There were paper plates and about 100 clothespins used. 
To the best of my figuring ability, I was able to find that 6″ diameter plates would fit in a “scale” configuration and allow for about 100 kids to do the fish. 
It was a quick and fun craft to fill any free time that the children had during their program day. This image shows a very helpful assistant next to “Mr. Big Fish” who is about 1/3 complete.
Check this out, are we getting dumb and dumber? 
It’s the contractor in me that finds this absolutely hilarious. Are we so stupid as a society that we need a sign saying, “closed for remodeling”?