United Way parts with Winter Warm-up event

An annual event that connected homeless people with local services is being transferred from the United Way to Collaborative Housing Solutions, with United Way leadership citing a change in direction for the organization.

Northwest Montana United Way Executive Director Jodi Cross said that at the beginning of this year their leadership started reevaluating the group’s mission and goals. Though Winter Warm-up serves an important purpose for the community, she said they believed there needed to be an organization primarily focusing on education in the Flathead Valley. In a press release announcing that the United Way is no longer hosting Winter Warm-up, Cross said the group will continue to support the community with “a hand up, not a handout.”

Cross said that after items given away at last year’s Winter Warm-up ended up discarded at the Flathead County Fairgrounds, the United Way’s board of directors decided that they didn’t want to put on an event that created more of a burden for the community.

“However, we still believe that our homeless community still needs help,” Cross said. “And it goes back to the old saying, ‘Give a man a fish, feed him for a day, teach him to fish, and you'll feed him for a lifetime.’ So yeah, we're gonna jump into teaching our community and literally walking them through the steps.”

One of the goals of Winter Warm-up is the annual point-in-time survey, which aims to get an accurate count of how many people are experiencing homelessness in the region, she said. Cross said handing the event over to Collaborative Housing Solutions of Northwest Montana, the umbrella group that conducts the survey, felt like the right move.

Chair of the Collaborative Housing Solutions of Northwest Montana Sean O’Neill said the intent of Winter Warm-up has always been to connect people experiencing housing instability with services to improve their situation. Over the years there was an increase in giving things out like sleeping bags, coats and tents, among other items necessary to survive the streets in a Montana winter. While the intent was good, O’Neill said that resulted in some homeless people having an excess of these items.

He said Collaborative Housing Solutions is preparing to put on a similar event to Winter Warm-up, though there will be some changes. He said they will be revamping how the point-in-time survey is conducted to get more accurate results. Additionally, the group will focus on the event’s original mission of connecting people to services that could help improve their living situation.

Cross said she’s excited to see where United Way goes, adding that they recently hosted back to school events that provided classroom supplies, hygienic products and more to local children. They also are taking part in United Way’s nationwide 211 helpline, which helps connect people struggling financially with services like rent assistance, help with utility bills, child care and more. Cross said if people have trouble calling 211 to try the backup line: 406-751-8740, adding that they always follow-up on voicemails. She said over the weekend they had six people call the line.

“We have managed to get people gas to get to work, get tires fixed on cars,” Cross said. “We jump in and help or get them connected to [other services] ... So, we have one more community member who just got a job, who actually gets to keep their job,”

She said they are planning on hosting an event in December for people who need assistance signing up for benefit programs like Medicaid, Disability, Social Security and the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program, or SNAP.

Other events in the works include a speaker series where local nonprofits can explain what services they provide, as well as hosting open interviews with local businesses.

“They would know that the people they're interviewing have barriers, but would be willing to look beyond those barriers and interview the person as a person,” Cross said.

The Northwest Montana United Way covers five counties: Flathead, Lincoln, Sanders, Lake and Glacier.

United Way officials said they served 500 people at last January’s Winter Warm-up. The event typically takes place toward the end of January.

Reporter Taylor Inman can be reached at 406-758-4433 or by emailing tinman@dailyinterlake.com.