Housing Affordability & Homelessness in Spokane:
Trends • Data • Policy Perspectives
Presented by Gonzaga SBA and the Mozilo Chair of Business
Monday, March 23, 2026
6:00 - 7:30 p.m.
Jepson Center Wolff Auditorium
About the Event
Spokane continues to face significant challenges related to housing affordability and homelessness. To help our community better understand the current landscape and how recent policy and administrative changes are shaping it, Gonzaga University will host a 90‑minute public panel discussion featuring experts who work directly with regional data, policy, and service systems.
This event will highlight insights from the most recent Point‑in‑Time (PIT) Count and the Longitudinal System Analysis (LSA), offering a comprehensive view of the region’s homelessness trends and housing system performance. Our panelists bring experience in social work, sociology, city housing initiatives, and community data systems, providing a multidimensional look at the issues Spokane residents and policymakers are navigating today.
Discussion topics will include:
- Current conditions and emerging trends in housing affordability in Spokane
- Findings from the latest PIT Count and what they reveal about homelessness
- Broader system insights from LSA data
- How the current city administration’s strategies are influencing housing and affordability
- Opportunities and challenges for policymakers, service organizations, and community members going forward
Guest Speakers
Matthew Anderson
Professor of Urban & Regional Planning
Department of Political Science & Public Policy
Eastern Washington University
Mark Killian
Professor & Chair, Department of Sociology
Whitworth University
Liat S. Kriegel, PhD, MSW (She/Her)
Assistant Professor
Approaches to Community Mental Health Collab • PRISM Collaborative
Elson S. Floyd College of Medicine
Washington State University
Amanda Martinez (She/Her)
HMIS Lead Information Systems Analyst
Community, Housing & Human Services
City of Spokane
Moderated by Dan (Danielle) Xu, Ph.D.
Professor of Finance
Mozilo Chair of Business Administration
School of Business Administration
Gonzaga University
This panel continues with the tradition of engaging the public in critical conversations around housing, with contributions this year from regional collaborators such as city analysts, academic researchers, and community program leaders. The event aims to foster informed dialogue and support collaborative approaches to addressing one of Spokane’s most pressing issues.
Free and open to the public. RSVP below.