SPOKANE, Wash. – Dustin Teichmark, like many others, found a sense of safety at the TRAC shelter over the past nine months. However, with the shelter’s closure, uncertainty has replaced his comfort.
“Well, nobody wants to be stuck out in the cold in the wintertime,” Teichmark said.
Teichmark is among many who have relied on the shelter. While new resources are being made available, they are located elsewhere, away from the place many have come to think of as home.
“It’s a little bit, you know, up in the air you know you don’t really know if they’re going to for sure find you something you know, or if you’re going to be stuck out in the cold, but they do,” Teichmark added.
Residents, volunteers, and Salvation Army staff have come together to clean out the shelter and find new places for residents to stay. Carolyn Strand, a Salvation Army outreach employee, has been part of this process for months.
“So, everybody from all corners, I mean, just came out of the woodwork to make sure you know the residents were taken care of. They had somewhere to go that they were welcomed and safe and it’s just been so humbling to see everybody come together. It’s such a great way,” Strand said.
Strand mentioned that the process has been challenging, with the hardest part being the closure of the shelter.
“Letting go. I’m not going to cry. Just letting go seeing them leave and move onto better things you know that’s has been the hardest part,” she stated.
Though Teichmark has a new place to stay for the night, he expressed difficulty in leaving the TRAC shelter.
“I felt like this was really a great place to go,” Teichmark said.
The Salvation Army staff confirmed that they have found new shelters for everyone who relied on the TRAC Center and needed a place for the night.
