Warming Center continues push for low-barrier shelter

Rick Syth spent last Christmas Eve behind Walmart.

It was so cold that night two of his fingers were frostbitten.

He looks down at his hands as he talks.

“This fingernail just fell off,” he said, splaying out his worn digits.

Life on the streets has taken its toll.

He’s 60 years old.

His heart is failing.

He lives in near constant pain.

In the winter time, things get really tough.

“Every time you go to a place, they kick you out. There was no place to get warm unless you happen to have a dollar,” Syth said. “You could go into a casino and put the dollar in the machine and sit there and drink your coffee.”

Syth is one of an estimated 233 homeless people in the Flathead Valley, many of whom are served by the county’s two local shelters, Samaritan House and Ray of Hope. On any given night, Samaritan houses 90 to 105 people in its shelter, transitional housing and low-income apartments, while Ray of Hope supports another 13 men and eight women, plus any children.

A new local nonprofit, the Flathead Warming Center, is hoping to increase the number of available beds by opening a low-barrier shelter that would keep individuals in all states of sobriety out of the cold and help connect them with local services to find longer-term housing.

“We’re just looking at meeting the very, very basic needs an individual has of warmth and safety, and I think that’s a gap that is unmet right now in a lot of regards,” said center co-chair Tonya Horn, a social worker at the Western Montana Mental Health Center. “We’ve really seen a great need in the valley for access to low-barrier shelters.”

A low-barrier shelter is temporary housing that doesn’t require guests to meet certain stipulations for entry such as submitting to drug or breathalyzer tests and presenting valid identification. But center organizers say there would be rules and procedures in place to ensure safety for residents and staff.

“Each guest signs an agreement how they will adhere by these rules and if they don’t, we have support from law enforcement to escort those people off the property,” said Jane Emmert, director of the nonprofit ASSIST, which connects locals with community services. “It’s not going to be a free-for-all. And there’s extensive training for the staff and volunteers.”

If a homeless person’s basic shelter needs are being met, organizers say they’d have a greater opportunity to rise out of homelessness.

“As a social worker, it’s very hard to work with someone who sleeps in the snow,” Horn said. “But when you bring someone into a community and they feel like they can contribute to that community, it’s a lot easier to help someone, to walk alongside them to get on the right path.”

Individuals with drugs or alcohol in their system would be permitted at the center, but could not actively use those substances on-site.

“We don’t want somebody to freeze to death because they have alcohol in their system,” co-chair Luke Heffernan said. “If they’re following the rules, they’re allowed to stay. We plan for success and for safety — we don’t hope for it.”

Whether pets are permitted or not will be dependent upon the location they find. Sex offenders also would be allowed to stay.

“There are a lot of people who have made mistakes in their lives,” Heffernan said.

The warming center would be laid out in an open floor plan, allowing staff to keep eyes on the residents at all times, with men, women and families in separate areas and storage lockers to keep individuals’ belongings secure. Organizers say the center would be open and staffed 7 p.m. to 7 a.m., November through March.

“We’re a last resort and we’re not talking about anything fancy — it’s the very basics,” Horn pointed out.

Requirements for entry at the county’s two existing shelters vary widely. Samaritan House requires individuals to submit to a breathalyzer test, but accepts those with alcohol or drugs in their system on a case-by-case basis, depending on behavior.

“Samaritan House is not by definition a low-barrier shelter, but it’s pretty darn close,” Executive Director Chris Krager said.

Samaritan House does not serve sex offenders and Ray of Hope only serves them on a very select basis, according to fundraising and outreach coordinator Wayne Appl. Ray of Hope conducts a urine analysis upon entry and will permit some individuals with drugs in their system, with the expectation that subsequent analyses show a lesser concentration of the drug.

The Flathead Warming Center plans to open its facility in November, but the question is where? — and of equal importance, how? After eight months of searching, the group still doesn’t have a location, and is also seeking substantial assistance from the community in the form of funding, staff, volunteers and supplies.

“We want to see it happen this year, whatever it takes,” Heffernan said. “Winter’s coming. It’s upon us.”

Heffernan estimates the annual operating budget would be $120,000, of which they have only raised a small portion. However, Heffernan is optimistic that once a location is identified, the group’s fundraising would gain momentum. They recently purchased 40 beds for the center, should they find a location in time, and Heffernan said the group has enough funding to rent a space.

“We had a location that was pretty well dialed-in, but it fell through on us. This is a real need. We need to rally the community around this,” Heffernan said. “Everybody thinks it’s a great idea to have a warming center, but nobody wants it in their backyard.”

In the meantime, the homeless who are unable to utilize existing shelters are taking refuge where they can — in hospital emergency rooms and the Kalispell Police station lobby.

Interim emergency Services Director Debbie Mulcahy has observed an uptick in homeless individuals seeking shelter in the ER during her 24 years at Kalispell Regional Medical Center. She said it’s challenging to get patients into a shelter at night, and oftentimes existing facilities are full.

“A lot of times, as the charge nurse at nighttime, I would just let them sleep for the night,” Mulcahy said. “It’s hard to put somebody out on the street at nighttime, especially when it’s cold.”

On especially chilly mornings in the wintertime, the Kalispell Police Department allows a number of homeless people to take shelter in their lobby. It’s a way of making do with the resources available, but this temporary solution isn’t ideal, according to Kalispell Police Chief Doug Overman.

“You have people coming in at 1 or 2 in the morning to report crimes or to meet with an officer. There’s less traffic then obviously, but that can be an uncomfortable situation for people in and out,” he explained. “There are some resources, but it’s not enough. The challenges we see come between 10 o’clock and 7 o’clock in the morning. What do we do with folks then?”

The addition of a warming center in the community would help expand local law enforcement’s toolbox, he said.

Overman also noted The Warming Center in Bozeman, after which the Flathead Warming Center will be modeled, has proven to be more of an asset than a liability in that community.

“We’ve had far more positive outcomes by having it than not,” said Bozeman Police Chief Steve Crawford. “We periodically get some calls at that location, but they are no different than calls we might get at another location.”

Crawford acknowledged the public may have some concerns about a warming center being “in their backyard,” but said he hasn’t observed any negative effects from the facility in Bozeman.

“People are like, ‘we’d love to have that in our community, I just don’t want that on our street,’” he said. “My message on that is, I think the pros outweigh any cons. It addresses a basic need for your community.”

Reporter Mackenzie Reiss can be reached at (406) 758-4433 or mreiss@dailyinterlake.com.