HomeCommentaryBRIEF: Faith leaders, nonprofits invited to sit and lie ordinance discussion

BRIEF: Faith leaders, nonprofits invited to sit and lie ordinance discussion

By: Tracy Simmons

Date:

June 10, 2014

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A homeless woman named Patricia seeks spare change from passersby in Washington's McPherson Square park (2007).

The community is invited to a conversation regarding the Spokane’s new law restricting sit and lie. The discussion will be at 11:30 a.m., June 12 at the Native Project Community Center.

The ordinance makes it illegal to sit or lie on sidewalks in the downtown area during business hours.

Many oppose the law and are seeking solutions that will be win-win for everybody, including the city, visitors, downtown businesses, and the homeless. Thursday’s conversation will focus on how the faith community and nonprofits plan to be part of the solution.

A second meeting, which will involve the homeless community, will be held at a later date.

Tracy Simmons

Tracy Simmons is an award-winning journalist specializing in religion reporting and digital entrepreneurship. In her approximate 20 years on the religion beat, Simmons has tucked a notepad in her pocket and found some of her favorite stories aboard cargo ships in New Jersey, on a police chase in Albuquerque, in dusty Texas church bell towers, on the streets of New York and in tent cities in Haiti. Simmons has worked as a multimedia journalist for newspapers across New Mexico, Texas, Connecticut and Washington. She is the executive director of FāVS.News, a digital journalism start-up covering religion news and commentary in Spokane, Washington. She also writes for The Spokesman-Review and national publications. She is a Scholarly Assistant Professor of Journalism at Washington State University.

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