KALISPELL — A COVID-19 Emergency Shelter officially opened its doors in the Flathead Valley on Monday for individuals in need during the COVID-19 outbreak.
The emergency shelter is located at the Samaritan House Admin Center in Kalispell off Meridian Avenue. The emergency shelter provides day and night service including overnight housing for up to 30 people.
Kalispell City Council Member and Emergency Shelter Organizer Kyle Waterman said the shelter provides health care services such as COVID-19 screening for individuals in need. He said the shelter provides different quarantine locations for those who are COVID-19 symptomatic and those who are healthy and symptom free.
“We realize that we needed a shelter like the Warming Center, but that it needed to have extra layers of protection and safety and oversight, and a way to do isolation,” said Waterman.
Waterman said a number of different agencies have come together to make the emergency shelter a reality.
Thanks to generous donations, he said more than $80,000 has been raised for the shelter in just over two weeks.
“Really this is community-driven partnering, so things are not really coming from the public dollar, this is really community support and the city is just working with the community as partners,” said Waterman.
Waterman added the Emergency Shelter will remain active for 30 days after Gov. Bullock lifts the shelter-in-place order.
