Presenter:  Maurice Smith

We all have had some experience with the homeless people in Spokane.  You have seen the person with a sign standing on the corner while waiting for a stoplight.  You may have served a meal or stayed overnight with families when we as a church housed guests from Family Promise.  You probably have read about the struggle to create shelters in the Spokesman-Review.  There are individuals who are homeless, but there are also families who are living in their cars or staying with family members in crowded conditions or in shelters.

This week in adult education we welcome Maurice Smith, executive director of River Rising Media and chair of the Spokane Homeless Connect Committee.  He has extensive knowledge of what families face when they are plunged into homelessness.  He knows why they have ended up there and what they are facing to climb out of it.  He knows what services are available in the city.  It is important to him to confront the myths that surround this population.   As stated in the article on Maurice in the Fig Tree, “When he combined shelter numbers with school students and families, he discovered that the total number of people experiencing homelessness in Greater Spokane averaged 11,541 over the past three years.”

In order to educate people, he has recently produced a new film entitled:  My Road Leads Home:  The Hidden Homeless.   He is going to use his new film in our next two adult education classes to help us learn the truth about families who are struggling with this reality.  We hope you will join us for this informative presentation.

The class will begin on Sunday morning at 10:30 a.m. in person in rooms 13 and 14 or on Zoom.  The Zoom link is ID:  976 0612 3777.  There is no passcode.  Just put in the ID.