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2/14/2025
“Missoula This Week” is reported and written By Katie Fairbanks. Send your Missoula news and tips to [email protected].
Missoula’s housing program looking to apply takeaways to entire community
In 60 days, the city of Missoula helped house 12 homeless veterans, a process that revealed several lessons that staff hope can more effectively address homelessness throughout the community.
Missoula was one of six northwest communities participating in the “Housed for the Holidays” housing sprint from mid-November to mid-January as part of its affiliation with Built for Zero, a campaign to reduce homelessness through the nonprofit Community Solutions.
During the 60 days, the average monthly housing placement rate for veterans doubled from three to six, something the city is exploring how to continue, said Emily Armstrong, Missoula’s houseless programs manager. City staff are working with service providers to implement a housing-first focus for the entire community.
“The sprint, of course, is twofold,” Armstrong said. “It’s very important to house folks. That’s its primary purpose: Let’s get some folks in housing as it’s cold. But the other purpose is really to better understand our system and to understand where are the barriers that are really holding us up and where are there opportunities to create openings where we didn’t know we could speed things up or move people through the system more efficiently.”
The city’s Houseless Programs team worked on the sprint with the Poverello Center, Volunteers of America, the Department of Veterans Affairs and the United Way of Missoula County. The Walmart on Mullan helped provide move-in funds and materials.
Missoula focused on veterans as part of the Built for Zero program, which starts by honing in on a specific population and scaling up to eventually address the entire community, Armstrong said. The city’s goal is to make veterans’ homelessness rare and brief by Veterans Day 2026. Armstrong said the housing sprint makes her more confident the city can achieve that goal.
“It’s just figuring out how we can sustain that as a community, but we know it’s possible,” she said.
On average, Missoula has about 80 homeless veterans at a given time, said Dylan Barbash, the city’s Built for Zero specialist. For the housing sprint, the city created a list of 15 veterans to work with, including some newly identified as homeless, those who have income but not enough to pay move-in costs and those not eligible for other resources, such as federal vouchers or the Supportive Services for Veteran Families program, because of an other-than-honorable discharge or a past conviction.
As part of the housing sprint, the city received a $30,000 grant from Community Solutions that could be used to help house people, Barbash said. He used the money to hold units, offer incentives like a signing bonus or double deposit or pay application fees.
“Throughout this whole thing, I focused on housing first principles, which is pretty simple,” he said. “You get them into housing first, and then you figure out the rest. You get people into a stable environment where they can think clearly, process, and then take the sustainable next steps on their own to be able to sustain that housing for themselves.”
The city had to be confident that participating veterans could sustain housing for 12 months and have a subsidy available for them if they needed it, Armstrong said. While the sprint focused on housing first, it also emphasized the need for stability through financial support as well as regular check-ins after obtaining housing, she said. Not all participants need robust case management, but Barbash acted as a point of contact for both the veterans and the landlords, he said.
Armstrong said the city and its partners learned documenting the barriers to housing in the database that all providers have access to helps address them more quickly. Common barriers among veterans participating in the housing sprint were poor rental history, bad credit, miscellaneous legal issues and past violent or sexual offenses, Barbash said.
Other takeaways from the housing sprint included the need for money for application fees, a unit acquisition team, and strengthening relationships with landlords and property managers.
“The common refrain is, well, there is no housing in our community,” Armstrong said. “Clearly, there’s some housing in our community, and we just need different tools to access it. So whether that’s utilizing our current capacity differently or coming together to create more capacity, I think those are questions we have to dig into.”
Mayor Andrea Davis said one of her priorities is to use the city’s limited resources on housing-focused solutions. The city is not necessarily looking to be the service provider but is working alongside them and looking for ways to be more effective, she said. The housing sprint is an example of using data to measure activities and show results that can be expanded to other populations for measurable progress, Davis said.
“We need to take a look at what we have been doing,” she said. “Are those practices effective? If they are great, let’s continue them if we can. If they’re not, then how do we pivot to be innovative in this space? How do we equip ourselves to put different solutions forward that really are housing-focused solutions? And this is one of those.”
5 Things to Know in Missoula
Missoula Mayor Andrea Davis on Wednesday announced she will run for re-election this fall. Davis was elected in November 2023 to complete former Mayor John Engen’s term after he died in 2022. Davis was executive director for the housing organization Homeword for 15 years before becoming mayor. In a press release, Davis listed several city accomplishments during her first year in office, including starting construction on the Scott Street-Ravara affordable housing development, purchasing the Southgate Crossing property for redevelopment, adopting the new land use plan, redefining the city’s budget process and enhancing police and fire services. Davis outlined three priorities for 2025 and beyond to address the city’s challenges — responsive local government, addressing the increasing cost of living and strengthening the local economy, and improving housing affordability and choice.
Residents are invited to fill out Missoula County’s Housing and Community Development Survey to help identify the needs related to public infrastructure and facilities, economic development, human services and housing. The online survey will take about 10 minutes and all responses are confidential and anonymous. Feedback will inform the county’s grant acquisition efforts and how to prioritize applications for funding from the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development. The survey closes on March 4 and results will be presented during the county commissioners’ meeting on Thursday, March 27.
On Monday, the Missoula County Public Schools board approved moving spring break from mid-March to early April for the 2025-2026 school year. The district typically matches its spring break with the University of Montana’s but that leaves a long stretch until the end of the school year, said Trevor Laboski, the district’s human resources director. The district received about 3,730 responses to a survey of students, parents and staff with 58% favoring keeping spring break in March. Most parents and students supported a March break and most teachers favored April, Laboski said. The board votes on a calendar each year.
Residents looking to make their homes more efficient can now turn to the Missoula County Department of Ecology and Extension’s Home Upgrade Hub. The county received a $1 million grant from the federal Environmental Protection Agency to launch the initiative. Homeowners can make an appointment online or walk in to access services from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. Monday through Thursday. The department is holding a free introductory session from 5:30 p.m. to 7 p.m. Thursday, Feb. 20, at the Balsamroot Conference room at the G.W. Marks Exploration Center. Topics will include energy audits and assessments, common products and appliances to boost efficiency, retrofit timeline and budget and available tax credits, rebates and other incentives. Online registration is encouraged.
The University of Montana is hosting a panel discussion on Indigenous political activism, resilience and advocacy on Friday, Feb. 21. The panel, from noon to 1:45 p.m. in the Payne Family Native American Center, is free and open to the public. Speakers include Frank Ducheneaux, a key figure in major Indian legislation and a member of the National Congress of American Indians, LaNada WarJack, a pivotal figure in influencing government-funded policies to address the ill-treatment of tribes and broken treaties, and Krystal Two Bulls, an Indigenous organizer and advocate for tribal sovereignty and social and racial justice. Sapphire Carter, a UM law student, will moderate the panel.
Photo Op
Demolition and site clearing is underway at the corner of South Third Street West and Ash Street to make way for Opportunity Resources’ 24-unit workforce housing project. The nonprofit, which serves people with disabilities, previously ran a wood products business at the site.
The project includes a three-story apartment building with income-restricted units for households earning between 40% and 80% of the area median income. A two-story commercial building will house Opportunity Resources’ Artists of Opportunity program and host programming with local schools and community artists.
The Missoula Redevelopment Agency board in June approved nearly $2.5 million in tax increment financing for the $10 million project, with about $930,000 for demolition and infrastructure and $1.5 million in workforce housing funds to go toward apartment construction. In October, the state awarded the project $6.5 million in housing tax credits.
Running for causes
On Saturday, runners and hikers will be lapping Mt. Sentinel as part of Running Up For Air, a three, six or 12-hour winter endurance challenge to raise money for Climate Smart Missoula. The event is part of a series of similar races in several western cities raising money for local environmental nonprofits. Participants summit the mountain and repeat the route as many times as possible within their chosen timeframe. Organizers hope to reach 700 laps this year. The event intentionally takes place in February to raise awareness about Missoula’s often poor air quality due to winter and summer inversions and wildfire smoke. Registration information and course details are available online.
Those looking for a less challenging course can sign up for the Heart Throb 5K, an ’80s-themed race through Fort Missoula. The course is open to strollers and walkers, and service animals are allowed. The 5K starts at 10 a.m. at the Target Range School parking lot. Participants are encouraged to dress in ‘80s-themed attire, rainbows or other themed outfits. Prizes will be awarded for best dressed. A portion of the proceeds will go to The Center, a Missoula organization that offers a variety of programs and services to support and empower members of the LGBTQ+ community.