Homelessness exists in Mission Valley
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Thanksgiving and Christmas bring thoughts of families together, trimming the tree, sledding, baking Christmas cookies and wrapping gifts.
In the holiday whirl, many families make a point of donating to the food bank or Share the Spirit, but gingerbread men and a trip to Grandma’s sometimes wipes out the homemade signs held by men and women on busy street corners.
Homeless people and Christmas just don’t seem to go together, but homelessness is a year-round problem.
Many people don’t think Polson has any homeless folk; but John Payne, Pastor of Journey Be, Chaplain at St. Joseph’s Hospital and a member of the Polson Ministerial Association, said he sees upwards of 50 homeless people a year. Mostly they’ve lost their job or their home, but “once in a while we get a transient coming through.”
Payne steers people to resources in the community, such as Soup’s On and Helping Hands. This summer a couple of rooms were available in a local apartment building, Payne noted. Helping Hands can ease a homeless person’s woes for a day or two, but then he or she is urged on to Kalispell or Missoula, both towns with facilities for homeless people.
“If you bat 200 — three out of 10 — you’re doing good,” Payne lamented.
There’s a program in Helena the Polson Ministerial Association has talked about but can’t really commit to yet. It’s called Families First, Payne explained. For one week, each church takes care of the needs of a homeless family — providing food, clothing, transportation, education and housing.
In Ronan, Safe Harbor opened a transition house in December of 2010. It can house four families in four bedrooms with private bath and a shared kitchen and community area. The screening criteria are the level of urgency and lack of other resources, according to DeeAnn Richardson, executive director of Safe Harbor, for “people who don’t have anything or anyone.”
With the coming of a Montana winter, many people who have been living in barns, a car or a park need a place to stay for the cold weather.
Since last December, the transition house has helped more than 50 people get back on their feet.
Safe Harbor’s auction has provided funds to keep the transition house and the women’s shelter open, but the organization can always use cash and furniture.
When one of the families in the transitional shelter finds a job or connects with family and relocates to a more permanent place to live, they need couches, beds, blankets, dishes and other household items. Safe Harbor has a storage unit, and Richardson said she and Dana Grant, director of development, feel like moving men because of the frequency of moving couches and other furniture.
The Confederated Salish and Kootenai Tribe Fatherhood Program and Sunburst Mental Health have provided lots of help, but eventually Safe Harbor would like to employ a caseworker. They’ve already served a lot of young families.
(Editor's note: This is the first of a two-part article on homelessness in Polson and Ronan.)
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