This Greater Helena Gives Day, we urge you to consider supporting Our Place —a vital resource in our community for individuals who are experiencing houselessness or are in need of immediate support.
At Our Place, we operate on the principle that kindness, dignity, and respect are fundamental to helping individuals create a stable, violence-free environment for themselves and their families. It’s not just a place; it’s a community where people can come together to find solace, support, and the resources necessary to improve their lives.
Services Provided at Our Place:
Personal outreach and engagement
Peer recovery and mental health services
Socialization opportunities and community group activities
Crisis mitigation and quality of life improvements
Essential aid including housing, transportation, job application support, and more
Since taking management in December 2019, Good Samaritan Ministries has significantly expanded the capabilities of Our Place. We now serve an average of 1,100 people per month—a doubling of our outreach—while increasing the services we offer by 85%.
Your Support Is Crucial:
As we continue to grow and serve more individuals in need, the importance of community support becomes ever clearer. Your donations help sustain and expand our services, ensuring that everyone who comes through our doors finds the help they need to stabilize and succeed.
This #GreaterHelenaGives, please consider making a donation to Good Samaritan Ministries. Your contribution will directly support our efforts to empower individuals, foster community, and provide critical services that can change lives.
Together, we can make a significant impact and ensure that no one in our community has to face their challenges alone.
The increases in Montana’s homeless population over the last few years are some of the largest jumps in the nation, according to the Department of Housing and Urban Development’s 2023 Annual Homelessness Assessment Report.
Between 2007 — when the nationwide annual tracking began — and 2023, the number of people experiencing homelessness increased in 25 states. Montana had the second-largest percentage increase in the number of people experiencing homelessness at 89% and the third-largest percentage increase from 2022 to 2023 at 45%.
“It’s not especially surprising,” said Sam Forstag, a manager with the Montana Coalition to Solve Homelessness. “Right now there’s a nationwide increase, but it sure makes sense that we’re leading the pack in most categories.”
Montana also led the pack in metrics on chronic homelessness, which refers to individuals who have frequent bouts of homelessness or have continuously been experiencing homelessness for over a year.
Between 2007 and 2023, Montana had the highest percentage increase in the number of individuals experiencing chronic patterns of homelessness at 551%. Montana was trailed by Rhode Island (334%), Idaho (275%), Maine (253%) and Washington (195%), according to the data.
Much of this data is based on a point-in-time survey, which is largely believed to be an imperfect tool to measure homelessness as it is prone to undercounting the number of people experiencing homelessness.
Still, those more recent numbers track with what providers are seeing on the ground in Montana.
The number of people experiencing homelessness in Montana’s seven major cities — Billings, Bozeman, Butte, Great Falls, Helena, Kalispell and Missoula — increased from 2021 to 2022 according to data collected by the service providers in those communities.
Kalispell saw a particularly dramatic increase from 654 individuals in 2021 to 1,049 the following year.
Chris Krager, executive director of Samaritan House, a Kalispell-based service provider that includes a homeless shelter, said that “the trends we are seeing are very similar to what the (federal) data shows.”
Krager has been the director of Samaritan House for 23 years. It was around the time of the COVID-19 pandemic, he explained, that the facility started hitting its capacity on a year-round nightly basis. Depending on how many children are in the families who arrive, the capacity can range from roughly 95 to 105 people.
“It just doesn’t ease up,” Krager said.
Forstag contends that some of the major drivers behind Montana’s imploding homelessness numbers are the dearth of affordable housing and the lack of behavioral health services in the state. Forstag also said that shelter directors from across the state say funding for more case managers is one of their main priorities.
A bill that would have in part helped hire more case managers passed multiple floor votes, but eventually died in committee this past legislative session. That failed legislation would have established $2 million in matching grants for in-house substance use treatment and case management.
That said, advocates fighting homelessness did see some success during the past legislative session: Lawmakers allocated $5 million for emergency shelter facility acquisitions and upgrades as a part of the state’s major infrastructure bill.
“It was a Band-Aid and a Band-Aid we needed,” Forstag said of the one-time funds.
Adequate shelters in Montana are particularly crucial during the winter months, where temperatures can plummet far beyond 0 degrees Fahrenheit. Over the last few years, a number of deaths of homeless people have been linked to the frigid temperatures.
“In Montana’s weather, homelessness can be fatal,” Krager said.
HELENA, Mont. — The Montana Department of Commerce announced it allocated $9.4 million in funding to improve affordable housing in six Montana communities.
The funding will be used to build or rehabilitate 485 affordable homes in Montana.
Projects in Billings, Butte, Hamilton, Helena, Missoula and Kalispell received funds.
The new housing and renovations will benefit Montanans earning less than 80% of the median income.
The Montana Department of Commerce released the following:
The Montana Department of Commerce announced today that more than $9.4 million of funding has been allocated to increase the number of affordable homes in six Montana communities. The funding is through Commerce’s Home Investment Partnerships Program (HOME), Community Development Block Grant (CDBG) and Housing Trust Fund (HTF) programs.
“It is critical that all Montanans have a safe and affordable place to call home. That’s why Commerce will continue to support programs that help increase the number of affordable, attainable homes across the state,” said Cheryl Cohen, Montana Housing Division Administrator with the Department of Commerce. “This funding will provide homes for Montanans who are at risk of homelessness, in lower wage-earning jobs and those experiencing special needs.”
Through Commerce’s housing programs, the awarded funds will be used to build new and rehabilitate 485 affordable homes in Montana. The funding has been awarded to the following developments and communities:
Billings – Mitchell Court LLLP will receive $1,650,000 of HOME funding for construction of the Mitchell Court Apartments — 32 affordable homes for families and individuals.
Butte-Silver Bow County will receive $750,000 of CDBG funding for the rehabilitation of the Aspen Place Apartments – 68 affordable homes for families and individuals.
Hamilton – The City of Hamilton, along with Sapphire Lutheran Homes, will receive $750,000 of CDBG funding, along with $1,500,000 of HTF and $1,900,000 of HOME funding for the rehabilitation of The Manor — 60 affordable homes for seniors.
Helena – United Housing Partners LLC will receive an additional $947,232, for a total of $2,526,194 of HTF funding, to support the construction of Twin Creeks Apartments — 62 affordable homes for families and individuals. Additionally, Accessible Space, Inc. will receive $1,200,000 of HOME funding for the rehabilitation of the Queen City Estates — 24 affordable homes for households with individuals with disabilities.
Missoula – Homeword, Inc. will receive $1,500,000 of HOME funding for the rehabilitation of the Creekside Apartments — 161 affordable homes for families and individuals.
Kalispell – Samaritan House, Inc. will receive $750,000 of HTF funding for the development of the Samaritan House Family Living Development — 18 permanent supportive homes for households experiencing homelessness.
“Through these HTF, HOME and CDBG awards, not only will we have preserved 60 units of affordable housing for seniors in Hamilton for many years to come, but the funding will also allow us to provide an updated and energy efficient housing solution for seniors who currently call The Manor home,” said Cole Harden, Regional Senior Officer of Sapphire Lutheran Homes. “We are excited about the upcoming transitions that will take our aging building and transform it into a modernized asset for the community.”
Montana’s CDBG Housing grants help local governments fund new construction or rehabilitation of single-family or multi-family homes that benefit Montanans earning less than 80 percent of the area median income. The HOME Program is designed to create affordable homes for lower earning households. The HTF is an affordable housing production program that complements existing federal, state and local efforts to increase the supply of safe and affordable homes for the most vulnerable households living in Montana. All three programs are financed from federal funds allocated to Commerce from the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD).
Clients of Our Place, the Good Samaritan Ministries-run addiction recovery drop-in center, spent much of Tuesday morning cleaning up the block in an effort to change public perception.
Good Samaritan Ministries and United Way of the Lewis and Clark Area were granted a conditional use permit by the Helena City Commission Monday night, allowing them to open a 25-bed emergency shelter for women at 649 Jackson St.
The commission heard hours of public comment ahead of the vote, some of which was in opposition to the proposed shelter. Those opposed cited littering and vandalism among their concerns.
“We are working very hard to humanize our unsheltered neighbors and get the message across that these people are not all criminals,” local United Way Director of Community Impact Jeff Buscher said Tuesday morning.
He said some of the Our Place clients came up with the idea of cleaning up the block during a group meeting.
“We’re giving them the tools to do what they want to do and that is clean up the neighborhood,” he said.
An Our Place client who goes by CJ said coexisting downtown will require both the business, property and homeowners and the unsheltered population to meet in the middle.
“We have to show them that we want to be good neighbors, but they have to understand that the status quo isn’t working,” CJ said while sweeping dirt off a Last Chance Gulch sidewalk ramp.
Rachell, another Our Place client, said her participation in the clean up helps her out. Rachell said she has been diagnosed with growing calcifications in her brain. She called them “brain stones” and said they have manifested obsessive compulsive tendencies in her.
“It’s nice to have my feet on the ground,” she said.
She said she has noticed many of the unsheltered in Helena do have mental health problems like her.
“They’re not trying to be disrespectful,” she said. “They are unable to make the right choices.”
Buscher said he hopes the clean-up will become a regular occurrence, but that it will take some encouragement.
“If we’re going to change the public perception and empower these people, it’s going to take the right tools,” he said.
After a homeless encampment was dismantled in November, tents and makeshift camps continue to pop up in the city, highlighting the need for additional emergency shelters.
A small camp made up of tarps sits in the back corner of Constitution Park in downtown Helena on Nov. 30, 2023.
In early November, deputies with the Lewis and Clark County Sheriff’s Office cleared out a homeless encampment a few miles south of downtown Helena, displacing those who called the camp their home.
The encampment — first on private property before it was moved to U.S. National Forest land — sprung up earlier this summer, and about 25 people lived there, according to coverage by KTVH.Now that the campsite has been removed, some of those unsheltered individuals moved into city limits where they could utilize the nonprofit resources and shelters, while others left the area.
Since then, new camps made up of tents and tarps have popped up within the city parks, on sidewalks and in alleyways, sparking community concerns about public safety while also highlighting the growing unsheltered crisis.
“There is not a spot within city limits that our community has opened up access for unsheltered to camp, [which] makes it very complicated,” Mark Nay, the street outreach coordinator for Good Samaritan Ministries, told Montana Free Press. “Folks that are living on the streets, you know, living in their cars, living in campers. What happens is they’ll kind of get themselves set up in a spot, and it really does go against what our city code is.”
So what is Helena’s stance on homeless encampments and urban camping?
Staying overnight is prohibited in any public or natural park within the city limits without permission from the city’s parks and recreation department, according to the Helena city code.
Although the code states that it’s unlawful to camp or sleep overnight in these areas, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the 9th Circuit ruled in 2018 that local law enforcement can not cite or arrest campers if there is not adequate shelter available for the homeless. That decision is affecting how many cities throughout the West, including some in Montana, approach expanding homelessness.
Mark Nay, the street outreach coordinator for Good Samaritan Ministries in Helena, sits in his office at Our Place, a resource program for unsheltered individuals on Nov. 29, 2023.
According to a survey conducted by the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development with the help of United Way of Lewis and Clark, about 175 unsheltered people are living in the county. Helena does have multiple programs and nonprofits that handle transitional housing, Nay said, but only one emergency shelter without enough beds to go around.
Helena Police Chief Brett Petty told MTFP that officers address complaints about homeless people from the community on a case-by-case basis. One of the most frequent complaints, though, is about people camping in city parks. A goal of his department, Petty said, is to make sure that the parks are usable and safe for everyone in Helena.
“I think the main thing here is being unsheltered, being homeless, being considered transient is not illegal,” Petty said. “Just because you don’t have a house doesn’t mean you’re a criminal, and that’s the way we treat it. Now if you’re camping in the park, there’s an ordinance saying that you can’t, but we have to work with those folks because they don’t have other places to go.”
Petty also shared that the police department works closely with Nay at Good Samaritan Ministries to find homeless individuals temporary shelters and help them utilize resources from local nonprofits.
Helena has multiple resources for individuals and families who don’t have a secure home and are experiencing homelessness.
“I think the main thing here is being unsheltered, being homeless, being considered transient is not illegal.”
HELENA POLICE CHIEF BRETT PETTY
God’s Love is the city’s only emergency shelter that is available to any individual who requires services, although it excludes individuals who become violent within the shelter.
“We have one rule: It doesn’t matter if you’re drinking, using drugs, it doesn’t matter what your story is, the second you hit a staff member you’re gone, no questions asked,” said Rachel Sanders, the office manager at God’s Love.
Those people camping around the shelter are individuals who have been kicked out, some of whom have mental health and addiction issues, Sanders said. God’s Love is at the corner of North Last Chance Gulch and 11th Avenue, and there are a few tents and personal belongings propped up on the north side of the building.
Helena City Manager Tim Burton said Helena is addressing the call for unsheltered assistance by working with the local nonprofits that provide services.
“So we stay in close communication with them, and where there’s opportunity for us to move things along or leverage state or federal grant dollars, those types of activities to help them provide the critical services,” Burton said.
There is an effort led by Good Samaritan Ministries to obtain a permit and funding through the city that would allow for an emergency women’s shelter. The city zoning commission will meet on Wednesday, Dec. 6, to consider the permit for the shelter project.
Burton said he hasn’t had time to analyze the efforts of officials in Bozeman and Missoula to curtail urban camping in those cities. Bozeman has adopted an urban camping ordinance, and Missoula is considering a similar response.
“What I do know is that it’s a national problem, and part of that national problem is in Helena, Montana,” Burton said. “I can speak to the issue that we’re effectively coordinating on a daily, weekly, as-needed basis with the experts that actually provide this service. I can’t say enough about the nonprofit organizations that, I mean, these folks do wonderful work. There’s not a single person in the city staff that has the expertise to run a shelter. It’s just not what we do. But, that doesn’t mean we can’t help the organizations that do provide that service where we can.”
Please join us for an Open House and photo exhibit by Ed Field, “Faces of Our Unsheltered Neighbors” in partnership with Town Pump Foundation. Our Place drop-in center is a peer run support program specializing in recovery, resources, education, and referrals in Helena, MT.
This past August, Chuck Butler attended the “Rough Sleepers” community conversation on homelessness facilitated by Helena community members. He was moved to get involved in Our Place and the unhoused community in Helena. Chuck Butler moved to Helena, Montana in 1985 to pursue a job in healthcare with Blue Cross Blue Shield. His career has spanned a number of fields including journalism, politics, and healthcare. Throughout his career, he’s always been moved to do what he can to help others.
Chuck believes that no one should be sleeping outside in Helena. He is the Stewardship Chair of Plymouth Congregational Church. Chuck started getting involved with Our Place and the unhoused community after attending all five of the “Rough Sleepers” Community Conversations put on by Jennifer Thompson and the United Way of Lewis and Clark County. He said, “what I was hearing about people in my own community sleeping outside, struck a nerve. I thought, it isn’t right that people in our community are sleeping outside. Something has to be done.”
After hearing about solutions to the issues that seemed far down the line, he decided to use his influence to do something that would help people outside now. He mobilized the members of Plymouth Congregational Church to hold a fundraiser for sleeping bags. With the funds, 45 new sleeping bags for Our Place were purchased for those unsheltered. Mark Nay, Helena’s Street Outreach Coordinator was grateful for the donation and mentioned that these would go fast. When the community came together over a shared cause, they made a difference.
I asked Chuck, what he would tell members of the community, who would like to get involved but don’t know where to start?
“I would say “go talk to your neighbors”. I had not been in Our Place before a couple of months ago, but I would drive by it on my way to work for 30 years. Often, it is easier to turn a blind eye to those who are suffering, but extending a helping hand is the sign of true strength. I started going in and talking to a couple of the guys in there. I have always been welcomed with a great big bear hug. We need to remember, that we are not helpless, and small acts of kindness can mean a world of difference.”
Chuck and Susan Butler just deposited another check for 50 more sleeping bags to donate to Our Place. Chuck will be at the Open House at Our Place on Dec. 5th. He encourages community members who have wondered how they can make a difference, to take the first step and come on in. All are welcome.
Thank you, Chuck for your commitment to the Good Samaritan Mission!
To keep more people out of the cold, we are extending hours at Our Place drop in center from Monday through Friday 8:30am to 4:30pm. Our place is a community center that provides peer recovery services, community groups, crisis mitigation, and housing assistance. It is a safe place for community members to have a cup of coffee, use the computers, and/or grab a donated blanket or coat.
