Nonprofit to open drop-in center

Kalispell Public Schools is opening its heart once more to homeless teens.

The HEART Locker, located at 514 E. Washington St., Kalispell, will add a teen drop-in center slated to open in late August. The plan is to open the “Locker Learning Center” three days a week from 3 to 6 p.m.

“It was really the kids who led us to deciding we needed to do this,” said Nichole Heyer, Kalispell Public Schools and Evergreen School District homeless education liaison. “We had teens who were showing up week after week and they would come in for a snack and just want to chat.”

On March 19, Heyer and AmeriCorps VISTA member Adam Sommers sat down inside the HEART Locker to talk about the addition.

The overarching HEART program began in 2014 with the HEART Locker and HEART Markets to provide in-need students with basic necessities such as clothing and food so they could focus on attending school.

The HEART Locker stocks free clothing, shoes, undergarments, hygiene products, bedding and school supplies for students in need ages 5 and up. The HEART Markets located at Linderman Education Center and Flathead and Glacier high schools stock free “grab-and-go” food items. A monetary fund also aids students or families with emergency or immediate needs.

Heyer and Sommers said the new learning and drop-in center are a natural progression of the program.

The HEART Locker is currently housed in what historically served as a school gym in a building shared with the school district transportation department. Sommers said the opposite side of the gym, where stacks of boxes are now stored, will be transformed into the learning center. Both Heyer and Sommers envision a study space with computers, internet access and study materials; a living room-type space with seating, books, a microwave and a mini-refrigerator; and an art studio space “where they can come and create — just get out of their heads a little bit,” Heyer said.

Computer and internet access was a high priority for the learning center as many school assignments are given, accessed and completed online.

“I meet with everyone on my list quarterly and look over their grades and attendance. I keep hearing over and over again, ‘I have to take the bus so I don’t have access to a computer,’” Heyer said.

The HEART Program is volunteer and donation-driven with minimal federal funding. The pair estimates they will need about $14,000 to remodel the space to create a new, inviting and professional environment. Heyer said they have already gotten roughly $7,000 in monetary donations toward the project from Parkside and Whitefish credit unions and a West Valley School fifth-grade class. She said J2 is also donating some office furniture and supplies.

Heyer said about 350 students between Kalispell and Evergreen schools are defined as homeless under the McKinney-Vento Homeless Assistance Act.

“And the need is growing. We have no choice but to grow with it,” she said.

Homelessness has a much broader definition for youth than adults. Students who are “couch surfing” at a friend’s house or living in a hotel, a car or a shelter are considered homeless under McKinney-Vento. Students who have a fairly stable home with a relative or neighbor still qualify as homeless if they’re living with an adult who is not their legal guardian.

Heyer said a target group of teens served are primarily living in hotels or in campers, often with multiple siblings. In some situations, two families may share a hotel room to make ends meet. These living situations don’t offer much privacy or space for teens.

“The homeless students we work with are the most at-risk group for pretty much every adverse life outcome,” Heyer said. “When they’re coming to school they’re in a warm, safe environment where they’re getting two meals today, but then the school bell rings. Where do you go? What do you do?”

The hope is that teens will seek out the Locker Learning Center as a source of community where they can socialize, study, create and “just be” in a safe environment.

Heyer and Sommers are inviting people in the community to volunteer their talents as homework tutors or to share or teach a hobby or skill with the teens.

“We need help. Anyone who has a talent, cool. (Anything) from people who want to bring in a batch of cookies once a month for these kids, to someone who wants to lead an art class once a month. Everybody has something they can bring to the table. If you have a hobby or talent you want to share with these kids, fantastic, we’ll make it happen,” Heyer said.

Sommers added, “There’s a lot of room for ideas, talents and skills.”

For more information contact Heyer or Sommers at 406-751-3630, heyern@sd5.k12.mt.us, adamsommers.heart@gmail.com, or visit https://kalispellheartprogram.org

Reporter Hilary Matheson may be reached at 758-4431 or hmatheson@dailyinterlake.com.