Helena resident creates nonprofit continuing her mission to feed students, families

HELENA — A local resident who has spent the last two years working to provide hot meals to students in need has started a new nonprofit with the same mission.

After learning about homeless students within the Helena school district, Amy Adams asked how she could help. When she was directed by school officials to donate money to local organizations that provide services for the unhoused, Adams thought she could do more.

“I want to help in some way. I know I can. I know there’s a way to do something,” Adams told Montana Free Press.

She began asking her friends and family to help her cook meals and deliver them to those students who were facing homelessness, living out of hotel rooms and campers, couch surfing or in shelters.

Now, almost two years later, she has started Amy’s Mess, a nonprofit that connects community members who want to help feed families within the school district. 

“What I’ve been doing is meeting needs that have come up and providing meals to take some of this pressure off the parents and the children and to make sure that they have a warm meal,” Adams said.

Amy’s Mess, which launched its website this month, operates through referrals from the school district and asks those who want to donate, prepare food or deliver food to sign a non-disclosure agreement to protect students and their families’ privacy. 

Although there are established resources that address the community’s food insecurity, such as the Helena Food Share, the local pantry set to open a new facility next month, Adams said that some of these families don’t always have the opportunity to cook.  

As of now, the nonprofit delivers food around Helena three times a week. Adams said that last year, when it was just her family and friends, they provided more than 700 meals.

Delivering dinners is not the only service the nonprofit strives to provide. Adams wanted to extend her assistance inside the schools and classrooms and is working closely with the school district’s homeless liaison, Michele Zentz, to accomplish that goal.

Earlier this month, a Helena High School teacher who works with at-risk students contacted Zentz inquiring about resources to help fill her classroom with snacks for her students. Zentz connected her with Amy’s Mess, which dropped off three shopping carts of food.

“It’s going to feed my students for so long. We have so many students who have food insecurity or even if they have free and reduced lunch, they’re just not getting enough to eat,” Erin Cleveland told MTFP during the delivery. 

Cleveland told MTFP the school districts need more federal funding but appreciate when the community lends a hand. “Then we have amazing organizations like this, though, and help step in when we have the need, which is absolutely outstanding,” Cleveland said. 

The number of homeless students in the district has increased in recent years, according to Zentz.  

From the 2022-23 school year, the district recorded about 365 students who were facing some form of housing insecurity. At the end of last school year, the number jumped to 425. Zentz said she thinks the count is higher because school staff have learned to better identify those students in the community.

“Amy’s Mess has been an invaluable resource to the school district in solving problems outside of the box and meeting the needs where sometimes the school district can’t help,” Zentz said. “She has found creative solutions to help, and I think that’s great.”

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