Group addresses homelessness in the Bitterroot

By Michael Howell

Several non-profit organizations and agency representatives came together last spring to discuss the issue of homelessness in Ravalli County. While the problem is not obvious to the casual observer, with no large homeless camps full of people living out of duffle bags and shopping carts, it is an issue if you listen to the people who are in the trenches trying to help people in need on a daily basis.

At the March meeting, a few of the top factors that can lead to or contribute to homelessness were discussed. What came to the forefront were problems with chemical dependency, lack of employment/under employment/low wages, lack of affordable housing, and the cost of childcare for single parents.

The group came together again last week and shared some details about the way homelessness affects them and the men, women and children they are trying to help and began trying to get a handle on the extent of the problem.

Dixie Stark, director of the valley’s Adult Literacy program, said that she has clients sleeping in cars and under bridges. Tim Peterson of Ravalli County Resource Conservation and Development (RC&D) said there was a lot of “couch hopping” going on in the Bitterroot. He said you don’t notice it, but the person has no place of their own.

According to Lea Gallagher, the 2-1-1 hotline number for resource help gets hundreds of calls from Ravalli County each week and 30% to 40% of the calls involve housing issues.

Gary Locke, who runs Family Shelter, said that 651 housing vouchers for temporary lodging were given out last year at a cost of $18,000. He said 6,490 meals were provided.

According to Rachel Shea, Shelter Advocate at SAFE, their nine temporary housing units for women suffering from domestic or sexual violence are always full. She said finding housing for someone wishing to escape domestic violence was “challenging” with rents averaging from $900 to $1,000. She said this is just not a possibility for a single parent household in which the cost of child care eats away at the earnings. She said that in the past year she has been able to find some affordable housing for only one out of 40 clients.

An advocate for people with disabilities from Summit Independent Living said that 75% of the people suffering from physical or mental disabilities were unemployed. She said finding adequate housing for them is even more difficult due to problems with accessibility and the use of service animals.

Becky Brandborg, who facilitated the meeting, said that housing problems could be compounded locally since Housing and Urban Development funds for transitional housing were being cut. She said the county has been receiving about $30,000 annually to help provide temporary housing but that funding was being discontinued. She said that rural care programs were also being cut.

With so many elements involved in the homelessness situation no easy answers are on the horizon, but nobody in the room was ready to give up. They were all looking for answers.

Tim Peterson of RC&D said that his organization had received a three-year grant to help serve as the “backbone” of a collective effort aimed at addressing the problem. He said the funding would allow them to provide the leadership and staff to help pull together all the concerned organizations and agencies to make a “collective impact” addressing the problem of homelessness in the Bitterroot.