Flathead Warming Center hosts grand opening Saturday

Just in time for the return of colder weather, the Flathead Warming Center is hosting the grand opening at its newly renovated space on Meridian Road in Kalispell.

The special event for the low-barrier homeless shelter will be held from 4 to 7 p.m. on Saturday, Oct. 16, with a ribbon cutting ceremony at 5:30 p.m. at the warming center, 889 N. Meridian Rd.

“The grand opening is really a community celebration,” said Tonya Horn, the executive director of the Flathead Warming Center. “The community recognized a need and stepped forward with compassion.”

It took a diverse swath of the community to bring together the new warming center.

The organization started in the winter of 2019 in the basement of Christ Church Episcopal. Last season, the warming center was located for a month at Faith Lutheran Church before it could finally take up residence at its own standalone location.

During the 2020-2021 season, the center served 207 people.

There was a lot of work to do before the new space was fully ready to serve the community.

The Meridian Road location formerly was used as a garage and not zoned to serve as a homeless shelter.

Therefore, it took the support of the Kalispell City Council and several local contractors to get the building set up to house members of the city’s homeless population.

One year and $750,000 later, the Warming Center is renovated and ready to start accepting its first guests of the year.

“We take care of each other in the Flathead,” said Horn, reiterating a motto that’s enshrined at the front desk of the new warming center.

Her organization is doing that by offering 40 warm beds to unhoused people from across the area. The center is designated as a “low barrier” homeless shelter, so it accepts guests regardless of religion, disability or other designations that might make them ineligible to stay at another facility.

Horn said three out of four of the Warming Center’s guests have problems with addiction, disability or mental illness. Dogs are also allowed, which would otherwise prevent many guests from coming to an indoor facility.

The determining factor for whether a person can stay at the center is availability and their behavior.

“We say we’re low barrier, but we have high standards,” explained Gina Benesh, a top fundraiser and an early supporter of the Warming Center from its start in the Christ Church Episcopal location.

The new Meridian location offers not only an improved facility for overnight stays, but also provides plenty of additional benefits, such as showers, lockers, laundry and refrigerator space. Users don’t have to stay overnight in the Warming Center in order to access those new additions.

The organization also is offering onsite services like haircuts and a vocational resource center. Horn said she hopes to add even more comprehensive services as the organization gets settled into its new home.

The Warming Center’s hours have also increased to 6 p.m. through 10 a.m.

During the grand opening, the Warming Center will offer self-guided tours, food and music. Visitors will have the chance to sponsor different portions of the center, such as a locker, or the entire building. They will also get an opportunity to sign up to serve as “innkeepers,” a new monthly sponsorship program.

Horn is hopeful the celebratory event will inspire even more of the community to get involved with the Warming Center’s mission.

“That’s just the beginning,” she promised.

Reporter Bret Anne Serbin may be reached at 406-758-4459 or bserbin@dailyinterlake.com.