Homeless Service Providers Anticipate Uptick in Student Need This Year
The HEART Program is accepting clothing, shoes, hygiene products and monetary donations as it prepares to support Kalispell and Evergreen’s unhoused students and families
By Denali Sagner
With the school year in full swing, homeless service providers are anticipating an increase in need as the Flathead Valley’s unhoused student population continues to grow.
Mandy Gerth, director of the HEART Program and homeless education liaison for the Kalispell and Evergreen school districts, said that a persistent lack of affordable housing in the valley is continuing to push families out of their homes and often into transient living situations. Last year, Gerth said, the Kalispell Public Schools enrolled 470 students who were living in temporary housing. This year, she expects the number to exceed 500.
“There’s just not enough fixed-income housing in Flathead County,” she said. “There’s just no place for people to go.”
A pandemic-era rush on homes in northwest Montana fundamentally altered the region’s housing market, pushing up costs and pricing out many locals.
Per the Zillow Observed Rent Index, the average rent in the Kalispell area last month was $2,130. In order to afford the typical monthly mortgage payment, homeowners in Montana must earn over $130,000 annually, according to an April study by financial research company Bankrate.
For local educators, inflated housing costs have translated into an uptick in students who are living in shelters, hotels, cars and cramped rentals with multiple families.
“These are working families with no safety net,” Gerth said.
At the HEART Program, Gerth and her team provide multi-pronged support to families experiencing homelessness. At the HEART Locker, students can “shop” for cost-free clothes, shoes, school supplies and hygiene kits. Last school year, the program gave out 540 backpacks, 1,300 pairs of shoes and 985 bags of school supplies, among other items. Students can access food, clothes and supplies at in-school HEART Markets, which allow them to fulfill their needs without a disruption to the school day.
The HEART Program also provides targeted financial support through HEART Funds, which Gerth said are used to pay for wide-ranging needs from temporary hotel stays to haircut vouchers. The funds are never dispersed in cash and are used specifically for families living in a camper, car, shelter, hotel or doubled up with friends or neighbors. Recently, the funds were used to purchase kneepads for two students on the volleyball team.
The program director said the ability to fulfill needs beyond basic clothing and school supplies is critical to ensuring “our kids can have a complete school experience, including extracurricular activities.”
HEART Funds can also pay for gas cards, air mattresses, winter boots, new socks and underwear, gun safety locks and over-the-counter medications not covered by Medicaid.
As the school year begins in earnest, the HEART Program is in need of monetary donations to their HEART Funds, as well as deodorant, adult-sized underwear for teenagers, teenage boys’ shoes and younger boys’ clothes.
Gerth said the most important thing the community can do to support unhoused students is to “dispel the myth of homelessness.” Approaching unhoused families from a position of empathy has become increasingly important, she said, as anti-homeless sentiments in the Flathead have recently escalated to violent ends. She encouraged Flathead residents to “lean into compassion in what’s become a really unnecessarily politicized topic” and interrogate their own beliefs about unhoused families, which may be misinformed.
To learn more about the HEART Program, contact 406-751-3630 or [email protected].