At the end of a year replete with financial hardships and increased need for nonprofit community services, the Northwest Montana Veterans Stand Down and Food Pantry received some much-needed good news.
With the help of a dedicated team of real estate professionals and a sizeable anonymous donation, the pantry will finally be moving into a building more than quadruple its current size.
Allen Erickson, the pantry’s founder, said he got the news right before Christmas and was still marveling over the pantry’s good fortune a week later.
“I’m out here in the dark,” Erickson said. “I have a new building, don’t know who did it. All I can do is thank the good Lord that somebody thought about us.”
The new building is located on U.S. Highway 2 in Evergreen, across from Shopko. It boasts 11,098 square-feet of space, two stories, office space, storage space and handicapped-accessible bathrooms.
Erickson said the new building is a blessing for the food pantry, which serves the Flathead’s homeless and at-risk veterans. Its current location consists of three Quonset huts equaling about 2,400 square feet. This means a snug work environment and a constant overflow of people and supplies, Erickson said.
“We outgrew this (building) the year we moved in,” Erickson said.
His wife, Linda Erickson, walked through the new building last week and detailed the upgrades and changes the couple plans on making to the space. Some of these include installing an elevator, adding more space for the food pantry and installing a shower and laundry machines.
Homeless veterans can shower and launder their clothes for free and sign up for monthly food boxes. There is also a clothing outlet to peruse. The pantry saw double the amount of requests for holiday food boxes this year, Linda said, so much activity that it made their current location seem even smaller.
With the new facility, homeless veterans and their families will have a waiting area and 48 parking spaces and there will be more space for donors and volunteers.
Shannon Nalty of Nalty Real Estate worked with the veteran’s pantry while it looked for more space. He said the new building is unique and tough to categorize for typical businesses because it provides retail and office space, as well as an adjoining warehouse area. It seemed, however, like a perfect fit for what the Ericksons were looking for, he said.
So after crafting the best possible deal and some anonymous financial aid, Nalty said the veteran’s pantry was able to acquire the building. It was a good transaction for a good organization, he said.
“We believe in the veteran’s food pantry,” Nalty said.
The new building is one event in a long list of serendipitous moments for the pantry, Linda said. When Allen first began helping the valley’s homeless veterans it was in the couple’s backyard out of a semi-truck. The organization progressed to a garage and finally to the Quonset huts, with each progression made available through community support.
“This organization is so meant to be because things just happen,” Linda said. “We pretty much exist through the generosity of the community.”
The warehouse area connected to the main building will provide food and clothing storage and will allow the pantry to use the new forklift they acquired through a grant from Plum Creek. There will also be room for numerous refrigerators and, with hope, a walk-in freezer, Linda said.
Since the pantry is a nonprofit organization, they are exempt from certain property taxes. But it will have to pay city fees for water, sewer and fire services, among other charges.
To help with these costs and to provide more services, the Ericksons hope to lease out the upper floor for a veteran’s center, which could provide counseling and support for combat veterans and currently deployed personnel.
Civilians are also allowed to shop through the pantry’s donated and second-hand clothing, but they are asked to make a small donation, Linda said. The costs are minimal and help keep the lights on, she added.
“We’re not trying to make a buck,” Linda said.
The pantry will not move into its new location until the first construction phases are completed, Allen said. This includes the elevator and the pantry addition. He thinks the center has enough money in its building fund to put in the elevator, but will need to raise more money for the building addition.
Erickson hopes the renovations will be finished in a matter of months so he can start the moving process and begin realizing the dreams he’s had for the pantry.
“I’ve had all these plans and suddenly we have a new building,” Erickson said. “Thank you and God bless you.”
To contact the Northwest Montana Veterans Stand Down and Food Pantry call 406-756-7304 or visit www.veteransfoodpantry.org.