The city of Spokane is leveraging over $1.3 million raised through its temporary fire recovery fund to cover asbestos testing and assist families rebuilding after the August wildfires.

The city's HOME Starts Here Fund consists of funds raised by over 3,000 individual donors to pay for asbestos surveying for households whose residences were impacted by the Old Trails Fire, says Erin Hut, director of communications and marketing at the city of Spokane. 

HOPE is an acronym for healthcare, outreach, multidisciplinary engagement, and economic security, according to the city's website.

More than 500 homes within Spokane's city limits were lost or damaged by the Old Trails Fire in August, Hut says. The city has received an estimated 20 applications from impacted families for asbestos testing or reimbursement since Oct. 9, when the scope of the initiative was expanded to include asbestos services.

While most funding contributions came from Washington state residents and groups, support also was received from Idaho, California, New York, Maryland, Arizona, and beyond, says Hut. The largest donations came from Coeur d’Alene-based Hecla Mining Co., Spokane Valley-based Yoke’s Foods Inc., and No-Li Brewhouse LLC, of Spokane, she notes. Additionally, rock band Shinedown and its management company donated $30,000 to the fund after a Spokane performance on Aug. 14.

Of the $1.3 million raised, the city is expecting between $200,000 and $300,000 to subsidize asbestos testing, Hut says. Each household is eligible to receive $1,600 to cover the cost of asbestos testing. Completed testing may be eligible for reimbursement through the fund.

“The city is not taking administrative costs, so we're waiving all those standard fees that we would take through a procurement process,” says Hut. “That ensures that every dollar that's been raised is going specifically to wildfire recovery.”

In addition to community donations, Spokane received $1 million in Wildfire Housing Assistance Funds from the Washington State Department of Commerce. Managed through Goodwill Industries of the Inland Northwest, the state grant helps cover asbestos testing for households earning up to 120% of the area median income.

To fill the gap, the HOME Starts Here Fund operates without income limits, stepping in for residents who exceed the threshold for state assistance, Hut explains.

“For folks that don't fall into that area median income requirement, who still aren't able to have their insurance cover their asbestos testing, we're tapping into the HOME Starts Here Fund to help pay for those costs,” Hut says. “That's for folks who have yet to do the asbestos testing. For folks who have already conducted that, they can get that funding retroactively.”

In addition to asbestos testing, the HOME Starts Here Fund supports short- and long-term rent assistance, document recovery fees, furniture and basic household item replacement, transportation, personal medical equipment, diapers, formula, children’s clothing, and school supplies, according to the city’s website.

Since the recovery fund was activated in August, about $5,000 has been contributed to the Keep Kids Moving fund, created to help replace recreation and sports gear lost in the fires. About $10,000 has been used to provide cash assistance to vulnerable residents, Hut adds. 

Prior to its function as a temporary fire recovery fund, the HOME Starts Here Fund was called the Give Real Change Fund, providing support to individuals experiencing homelessness, she says.

While the HOME Starts Here Fund and the city’s $1 million state grant serve residents within Spokane city limits, relief extends further into the region. In October, the Department of Commerce awarded an additional $500,000 in Wildfire Housing Assistance Funds directly to Spokane County.

Spokane Housing Authority began administering those funds Oct. 5, says Kelly Keenan, the agency's director of housing assistance programs. Within the first week, SHA received 118 applications for aid, which covers rental assistance, asbestos testing, and other recovery expenses incurred between Aug. 1, 2026 and Jan. 31, 2027.

The county funds target households impacted by the Spokane Complex Fires or other local wildfires since June 14, capped at 140% of the area median income — or $154,700 for a family of four. While residents can combine this aid with other relief programs, it cannot duplicate coverage for an expense already paid by another source, says Keenan.

“We are generally trying to prioritize assistance for households that either are in homelessness or experiencing a pretty extreme degree of housing instability,” says Keenan. “That doesn't mean we're excluding other people who aren't necessarily in those situations, but we are working to prioritize folks who are either in homelessness already or very much in extreme housing instability already.”