Housing advocates work to improve count of homeless population

Working to reach more individuals who may be experiencing homelessness, Flathead Valley outreach organizations this week took a new approach to an annual nationwide survey by holding multiple events throughout the county. 

In the past, the Point in Time surveys have been given out at the Winter Warm-up event in Kalispell, but organizers this year opted to try pop-up Community Connect events over eight days to reach more people. The last year revealed 263 people were unhoused in the Kalispell area, according to Sean O’Neill with Community Action Partnership of Northwest Montana. 

“We were able to connect with folks that maybe we had lost contact with or hadn't seen for a while, which actually helped with getting the folks that weren't familiar with us and weren't comfortable open to possibly talking to us,” O’Neill said. 

Community Action Partnership is part of Collaborative Housing Solutions of Northwest Montana, a consortium of social service organizations in the region related to housing. Local outreach organizations team up to reach people during the coldest time of year, connecting them with services while asking them to participate in the survey.

The group administers the survey on behalf of the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development which captures a snapshot of homelessness across the U.S. 

Kalispell has been in the top three areas of the state with the highest population of unhoused people for several years, according to Collaborative Housing Solutions. In 2020, the Kalispell area ranked second in the state with 235 unhoused individuals, followed by a small increase in 2021 with 243 people counted. But, that number jumped to 319 in 2022, and the area barely fell behind Missoula for the highest number of unhoused people, which was 325.

Administering the survey is an important part of identifying needs and gaps for housing nonprofits in the valley. The data helps with obtaining HUD grants, but equally important, O’Neill said it can be used to paint a picture of what is going on in the community to raise local support. 

“It really helps us come up with local community solutions where maybe a foundation or community member has enough to invest in a project that we're trying that may be a solution for senior homelessness or veteran homelessness or youth homelessness or family homelessness,” O’Neill said. 

The survey asks participants 28 questions about their housing situation and what affects their ability to stay housed. The crux of the survey falls on one main question: “Where were you sleeping the night of Jan. 25?”

From there, the survey asks how long someone has been enduring a period of homelessness, and how many times they’ve been homeless in their lifetime, among other questions. It also delves into questions about drug and alcohol use, domestic violence and disabilities — reasons why someone might not be able to stay housed.

On Jan. 25, people gathered in the basement of First Presbyterian Church in Kalispell for a warm meal. The survey took place in a room off to the side of the dining area, where people could volunteer to fill it out while they grabbed a bag of hygiene products, among other items. 

Many agreed to step aside with a volunteer to take the survey, while others declined. Because the survey involves contentious questions and is self-reporting, O’Neill said many people do not want to participate. As the questions delve into sensitive issues in a short amount of time, it can easily upset someone.

“When they're answering these questions, they start to think about the story behind the answers, right? … So it is very difficult to make sure that folks aren't traumatized or triggered by the questions because they focus on what led them to lose housing,” O’Neill said. 

Though taking the survey is not required to receive any of the items or be connected with services, O’Neill said there are many people who are used to explaining every detail of their lives in order to receive assistance that they are not bothered by the difficult questions.

Still, the people they might need to reach the most might not be interested in taking the survey. 

“As someone that's trying to get as much of this data for us to really paint the picture, we're missing some obvious members that would be in that more vulnerable category of the unhoused,” O’Neill said. 

Early numbers indicate the new approach might be working to reach more people, O’Neill said, or at the least, people who typically wouldn’t be able to make it to the usual one-day event. Some of the events have proved to be better suited for the occasion, like the free meals and the event at the Northwest Montana Veterans Food Pantry where people could get free haircuts. 

The group was on track to surpass its goal of giving out at least five surveys at each location. On Monday, O’Neill said about 50 people had answered the survey, and with two more events ahead was confident they would be able to survey just as many or more people than previous Winter Warm-up events. 

Eight survey responses came from a dinner in Hungry Horse, people who likely were reached because they might not have been able to make it to Kalispell for Winter Warm-up. 

“Same thing with the Columbia Falls and Whitefish folks, if they're someone we should be doing a survey with, it’s probably not someone who has a vehicle that's reliable enough to drive into town or shouldn't be risking that or doesn't have really the money to be paying for the gas to come to town. And we don't want them to do that just for a survey, right? So we're trying to bring it to them,” O’Neill said. 

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