SHC Leadership Team
Meet Your SHC Leadership Team
Meet the passionate minds steering the ship for the Spokane Homeless Coalition. Learn about the individuals committed to driving positive change in the fight against homelessness. Discover their backgrounds, expertise, and the shared dedication that unites them in this vital mission. Get to know the faces behind the vision, and understand how their leadership shapes the Coalition's initiatives. Together, with a wealth of experience and a shared commitment, our leadership team is at the forefront of creating a Spokane where everyone has a place to call home.
Co-Chair
Robert Lippman
As co-chair of the Spokane Homeless Coalition, Dr. Robert Lippman, DBH,MSW is the host and moderator of each monthly SHC meeting. Dr. Lippman has a social work background with a doctorate in Behavioral Health. Dr. Lippman’s studies include integration of behavioral health in the healthcare system, specializing in psychophysiological disorder diagnosis and treatment. Robert is Spokane home grown, born and raised in Spokane, WA and attended Northwest Christian High School. Robert played Bigfoot basketball for the Community Colleges of Spokane, Northwest Nazarene University and professionally in Australia. Robert’s interest in social work is rooted in an upbringing by a single mother, who had a passion for serving vulnerable peoples and advocating for injustice within defective systems.
"The Lord is a refuge for the oppressed, a stronghold in times of trouble. Those who know your name trust in you, for you, Lord, have never forsaken those who seek you."
Psalm 9:9
Administrator
Barry Barfield
Barry began his involvement with homelessness in 1976 as a volunteer at St. Joseph Center in Venice, California, where over the next eight years he served on its board and worked to open a poverty law legal clinic. In 1991 when his family moved to Spokane one of Barry’s first community engagements was to meet with Donna Hanson, the then director of Catholic Charities, to explore how he could get involved in Spokane. Since 1992 Barry has worked at Gonzaga Preparatory School seeking to help students walk with the marginalized. In 2010 Barry took over the Spokane Urban Plunge program which allows community members to learn about homelessness from encounters with those who are or have been houseless. Barry volunteers with Hospice of Spokane and holds a B.A. in Theology and a law degree.
Co-Chair
Julie Garcia
Julie Garcia the Executive Director/Founder of Jewels Helping Hands and co-chair of the Spokane Homeless Coalition. Julie Garcia or Jewels runs and operates four of the City of Spokane scattered site shelters. One of the four shelters is a medically integrated medical respite in partnership with Providence for people experiencing homelessness. JHH is part of the encampment resolution program with the State of Washington and also runs sober living transitional housing and a second chance employment program.
Pastor of The Gathering House
Rob Bryson
Rob Bryceson is the pastor of The Gathering House Church, the site where the Homeless Coalition meetings are held. He is the current longest standing members of the coalition and serves on the leadership team as the person bringing the longevity and history. Before the Gathering House, he spent many years serving at the church on the corner of 2nd and Division where he and his wife created a community, weekly meal for street people. Their site served as a major hub for other agencies to communicate and coordinate with the homeless population, creating many helpful major changes. Rob got involved with the coalition in 2009 to learn more about helping this underprivileged group and grew in his own knowledge and understanding of the how the systems work in our city. He is the author of the book “Lessons From a Church in Zombie Land” a humorous and thought-provoking memoir of his years pastoring a church full of homeless street people.
You can also contact the Leadership Team via e-mail using the Contact option in the top page menu.
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