MISSOULA — Following the closure of the Johnson Street Shelter, and with much colder weather approaching, officials are prioritizing services for Missoula’s homeless community.
Missoula has several programs throughout the city that try to help our neighbors who are homeless, and it can be confusing to keep track of who does what.
“The Poverello Center is really a critical resource in our community and providing basic needs services to our community members. The city doesn't sit in that same position of ability as I shared we're, we're more of a system backbone policymaker program designer,” said City of Missoula houselessness program coordinator Emily Armstrong.
Watch the video below to learn more:
The City of Missoula recently signed a $211,000 contract to support The Poverello Center’s Homeless Outreach Team. But besides providing funding to support the program, the city itself doesn’t provide services directly to the homeless. That’s where The Poverello Center comes in.
“This contract gives us the ability to keep that team expanded and not have to go back to a smaller team,” said Poverello Center executive director Jill Bonny.
Bonney says that the Homeless Outreach Team (HOT Team) provides basic necessities to those in immediate need. But beyond that, they also build vital connections to those who are homeless.
“I would say the most important thing is they're building relationships with people, which really helps them then build trust so that hopefully they can move into housing at some point,” said Bonny.
The City of Missoula provides funding for the HOT team, which mainly goes to staffing. But beyond the funding for the HOT team, the city takes the reins on the Missoula Coordinated Entry System, which the city says is vital to getting people into housing.
“Our system of support, our system of care can house more people than are falling into the experience at any given time,” said Armstrong.
Through the work of the Missoula Coordinated Entry System, the city has a specialist who focuses on property owner engagement.
“That position is focusing right now on building out a landlord engagement program pilot to really create opportunities for landlords to engage more actively and proactively with neighbors who have been unhoused and are seeking housing and have a way to sustain that,” said Armstrong.
Overall, the city and The Poverello Center work together to try and obtain housing for those experiencing homelessness, but the city has limited direct interaction with those individuals.
