Nonprofits Collaborate to Educate Community about Homelessness in the Flathead Valley

At a town hall meeting on Dec. 8, local nonprofits collaborated to educate the community about the Flathead Valley’s homeless population and the resources available, highlighting the new “211” center at Northwest Montana United Way.

The system will allow those in a crisis who do not need law enforcement to dial 211 where they will be connected to United Way for a single point of access to resources. An operator will direct them to the appropriate organization, ranging from food banks to domestic violence resources to homeless shelters.

“We are covering a nine-county area in northwest Montana,” Executive Director Roxanna Parker said. “Our goal is to be operating 24/7 … It will not only help our clients and our neighbors who are in a crisis but it will also help our agencies.”

“It will be a huge relief to all of our agencies, our law enforcement and our first responders,” she added. “It really streamlines people getting the assistance they need right away.”

The 211 center is in its final stages and will begin operating once United Way has confirmation from the last remaining phone companies.

Hosted by Kalispell City Councilor Kyle Waterman and moderated by Kalispell Rep. Frank Garner (R), the townhall was intended to educate Flathead Valley residents about the challenges that homeless populations face and the resources available.

Directors from Ray of Hope, Abbie Shelter, Samaritan House, Flathead Warming Center, Community Action Partnership of Northwest Montana (CAPNM) and North West Veteran’s Stand Down and Food Pantry participated in the panel, offering unique insight and challenges from each individual organization.

At CAPNM, Sean O’Neill emphasized how housing unavailability is impacting his clients and the change he’s seen since the pandemic began.

“Before COVID, it was a problem already,” O’Neill said. “That change that’s happened has made the issue exponential. We’re seeing new households that have never experienced homelessness that never experienced housing instability that are now homeless.”

To mitigate homelessness, O’Neill wants to see more community members ranging from landlords to local government officials to step up and brainstorm solutions.

“We all need to get together and come up with resolutions,” O’Neill said. “We are bursting at the seams.”

While nonprofits are working together to help the homeless population with their unique needs, the directors advocated for improved access to mental health services, as well as changes to the community’s attitude surrounding homelessness and new legislation.

“How a person looks doesn’t mean we need to be afraid of them,” Tonya Horn, of The Flathead Warming Center, said. “We need to really realize as a community that when you bring people inside to warmth and safety and structure, it makes us all safer.”