Remember Camp Hope

Is it time for new players?

Remember Camp Hope? The encampment was not authorized by the City of Spokane. Instead, it began in December 2021 when protesters, led by Julie Garcia and volunteers with Jewel’s Helping Hands, hijacked the WSDOT property in protest of the city’s lack of low‑barrier shelter space. This unauthorized occupation quickly grew into the state’s largest homeless encampment, with over 600 residents at its peak. 

Think about this, Julie Garcia, founder and executive director of Jewels Helping Hands, was one of the most visible and controversial figures at Camp Hope. She was instrumental in its daily operations, community cohesion, and was resistant to its relocation then got paid on both ends.

So, let’s look at the fall out of Camp Hope.

~ $24 million from WSDOT to move everyone out of Camp Hope. Money was funneled through organizations like the Empire Health Foundation and local service providers (including Jewels Helping Hands, Catholic Charities Eastern Washington, and Volunteers of America) to provide on-site outreach, peer navigation, detox, and permanent housing placement. 

~$155,421 paid to Jewels for Security. 

~$1.6 million — the total Julie Garcia acknowledged Jewels was paid for its Camp Hope work, per the Spokesman-Review in February 2024, after the camp closed in June 2023.  

Related payments during the camp's operation (from the Inlander's accounting): WSDOT paid $7,100 for debris removal plus unspecified sums for porta-potties, generators, fencing and heaters; Security Services Northwest got $317,585 for WSDOT-funded security; Crowd Management Services $238,640; the Jewels Security Team $155,421; and Spokane police overtime ran $401,899. The City of Spokane separately demanded $350,000 from the state as reimbursement for cleanup and law-enforcement costs.

Funding Details 

• Acquisitions and Shelters: Department of Commerce funds ($15M) went toward purchasing and renovating facilities like the Catalyst Project (a former motel converted into housing) and supporting local shelters such as the Trent Resource and Assistance Center (TRAC) and Hope House.  TRAC Opening $2.4M with proposed contract up to $8.6M (about $3,400 per bed per month at 150 beds). $16.86 million — the total spent on the shelter from September 2022 through the final October 202

·        Physical cleanup / site restoration (after the June 2023 closure) — WSDOT owned the land (the I-90 right-of-way at 2nd and Ray) and paid for it. One month after closure, WSDOT said it had spent over $1 million on fencing, security and site maintenance, and that soil testing and remediation costs were still to come. WSDOT never published a final total for the remediation phase that I can find.

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Would you like a more detailed breakdown of how the $24 million was allocated among specific local organizations and housing projects?

Think about this Julie Garcia, founder and executive director of Jewels Helping Hands, is one of the most visible and controversial figures at Camp Hope in Spokane. The encampment, located on a state-owned lot near Freya Street and Interstate 90, became Washington’s largest sanctioned homeless encampment, peaking at over 600 residents in mid‑2022

In summary, Julie Garcia’s “starting” of Camp Hope is more accurately described as her becoming its driving force after its formation. She has been instrumental in its daily operations, community cohesion, and resistance to relocation, making her both a symbol of resilience for residents and a focal point of the political and social debates surrounding the site.

There's no single published "cleanup cost" figure — the site cleanup happened in phases under different payers. Here's what's actually documented:

Physical cleanup / site restoration (after the June 2023 closure) — WSDOT owned the land (the I-90 right-of-way at 2nd and Ray) and paid for it. One month after closure, WSDOT said it had spent over $1 million on fencing, security and site maintenance, and that soil testing and remediation costs were still to come. WSDOT never published a final total for the remediation phase that I can find.

Who did the work: GrayMar Environmental Inc., a Moses Lake–based environmental contractor, was hired by WSDOT to test and remove contaminated soil from the site — that work ran through fall 2023 and into winter, delayed partly by GrayMar's availability on other Northwest jobs. The contract amount wasn't disclosed publicly.

Related payments during the camp's operation (from the Inlander's accounting): WSDOT paid $7,100 for debris removal plus unspecified sums for porta-potties, generators, fencing and heaters; Security Services Northwest got $317,585 for WSDOT-funded security; Crowd Management Services $238,640; the Jewels Security Team $155,421; and Spokane police overtime ran $401,899. The City of Spokane separately demanded $350,000 from the state as reimbursement for cleanup and law-enforcement costs.

If you want the actual GrayMar contract value, a public records request to WSDOT's Eastern Region for the Camp Hope site remediation contract would get it — that number doesn't appear to have been reported.