A young man came into Good Samaritan feeling desperate and alone in the world. Our receptionist told him he was always welcome here and could sit in the lobby and talk to her as long as he needed. He began to get emotional as he opened up about past trauma and how he could not even afford to buy clothes or shoes that fit.

Can you imagine wearing shoes two sizes too small because you don’t have the resources to buy shoes that fit? On top of previous trauma?

Our receptionist gave him a clothing voucher so he could pick out some new clothes and shoes that fit. He immediately put on his new shoes which brought a smile to his face. When we have the basic necessities of life we forget how much the little things matter, like a pair of shoes that fit. GSM provided him a hotel room because he had nowhere else to go but alone on the streets again. As he was leaving the receptionist gave him a hug, he became emotional and said; “I can’t explain how much it means to be treated like a human again”. The story does not end here, our assistance coordinator continued working on referrals and his needs.

Today a client came to us looking totally defeated. I interviewed him and discovered that he was homeless and had been sleeping on the street for the last year. In that time, he had experienced violence, hunger, oppression, and stigma. Due to circumstances out of his control he had lost his apartment, his friends, his job and had been residing outside or in whatever shelter would take him in. The first thing we did was fed him. The second thing we did was get him emergency shelter and then fed him again. We put together a food box for him at night so he wouldn’t have to experience food insecurity. At that time, our amazing team of assistance and housing went to work on his situation. We filled out a Permanent Supportive Housing Voucher application and contacted Helena Housing. Sometimes life is all about timing, Janice from Helena housing came down and approved the application, one of our other consumers knew of a place that had an open apartment. We took him down to fill out a housing application and he was approved the same day, he moved into his new apartment that morning at 10:00 am.

He came in this afternoon to fill out a volunteer application because he wants to pay it forward to other people in need.

Good Samaritan has a special quality, an unspoken sense of belonging or a safe place to be in times of crisis, sadness, or simply a place to talk

A young lady came to Our Place in need of help this young lady has struggled with mental health and drug addiction since she was 11 years old. This young lady is making serious decisions with her life, she’s six months pregnant and plans on giving the baby up for adoption, she has decided her sobriety is critical for survival. The next struggles are conquering homelessness, and to retain employment.
(This is where you, our donor comes in changing lives.)

The day we met she had been “clean for 60 days” but the struggle and torment to refuse drugs was excruciating as was her mental health. We connected her with Marvin Coleman, our case manager. He gave her time for her future…help with a resume, job applications, transportation, referral to housing, a food stamp application, medicaid which were all approved the same day. He moved mountains for her that day.

He then helped her with a Permanent Supportive Housing Voucher application, she was approved and found a home within two weeks, and a job! Staff worked with her for the sustainability of her home and job that both are in walking distance.

Today…
120 days off all street drugs, participating in Narcotics Anonymous,established medical care with an OBGYN, and mental health treatment. She stays in contact with her support system at Our Place on a weekly basis.

We are so proud of this young woman and her life today, but her success is because of you and the fact that you care!

Today a client came to us looking totally defeated. After being interviewed him we discovered that he was homeless and had been sleeping on the street for the last year. In that time, he had experienced violence, hunger, oppression, and stigma. Due to circumstances out of his control he had lost his apartment, his friends, his job and had been residing outside or in whatever shelter would take him in. The first thing we did was fed him. The second thing we did was get him emergency shelter and then fed him again. We put together a food box for him that night so he wouldn’t have to experience food insecurity. At that time, our amazing team of assistance and housing went to work on his situation. We filled out a Permanent Supportive Housing Voucher application and contacted Helena Housing. Sometimes life is all about timing, a woman from Helena housing came down and approved the application, one of our other consumers knew of a place that had an open apartment. We took him down to fill out a housing application and he was approved the same day, he moved into his new apartment that morning at 10:00 am. He came in this afternoon to fill out a volunteer application because he wants to pay it forward to other people in need.

Today we helped a man, a veteran, who was homeless and in need of emergency housing. He is 75 years old and was half frozen out of his mind with hunger. After calling the Volunteers of America(VOA) it became clear that the only way to help him was to get his DD214, his snap benefits, and a letter from Social Security Income(SSI). First, we took him to the Veterans Hospital but they were closed so we then went to the SSI office and it too was closed. Since we were out, we then stopped by the Office of Public Assistance, and yes you guessed it, they were closed as well. The closures were of no fault of the agencies as they were following directives from above.
The gentleman seemed to become very scared and panicky at this point because he was afraid, he was going to be in the elements again tonight. I assured him that we would not let that happen and that should it come to that, we would call the “MAC PAC” from Good Sam’s and we would find him a place to stay. We went back to the office to start calling everyone we could think of that we had tried to visit. Eventually, we gathered all the needed documents this afternoon, a small miracle!

Finally, we re-called Volunteers of America, they asked that we come to their office so that they could enroll him in their program and set him up for emergency housing. It is hard to put into writing the relief he showed when I told him he would not be in the elements again tonight.

George Abraham is a gentleman who has been struggling to find affordable housing for over 3 decades. He tried to stay in California, but it became too hard financially for him to make it by. George came to Montana to start over. George hoped there could finally be a time when he wouldn’t have to worry if he could afford to live in a home. George was connected to Good Samaritan’s Housing Navigator services in the middle of March and was able to get housed within three weeks. Despite community and business changes with COVID-19, George was able to get housed with the help from Helena Housing Authority and Trophy Realty. George is very happy where he is at and would like to give back to the community in whatever way he can now that he has a place to call home.