Missoula set to begin housing sprint, phased closure of Johnson Street shelter

The city of Missoula will start its effort next week to permanently house as many residents of the Johnson Street shelter as possible, and city officials provided some details Wednesday on the five-month housing “sprint” and the addition of staff members to help enforce its camping laws. 

Beginning April 2, city staff will hold “office hours” at the shelter twice a week to meet with interested residents to assess their housing goals and barriers and then help them find permanent housing, Emily Armstrong, the city’s houseless programs manager, told the Missoula City Council on Wednesday. Current plans are subject to change as the sprint goes on, she said. 

“The sprint is being designed collaboratively to meet the urgency of the moment while we’re also recognizing the already existing high workload of service providers,” Armstrong said. “We’re kind of creating that foundational base but also trying to create flexibility to adapt in real-time based on what’s possible for service providers, based on what’s most preferred by folks who are using the shelter.” 

Armstrong said she is confident the city will reach its fundraising goal of $400,000 for the effort. The housing sprint fund, managed by the United Way of Missoula County, has received $15,000 in private donations, said Susan Hay Patrick, the organization’s CEO. Mayor Andrea Davis said the city has received other “significant commitments” to the fund that have not been finalized. 

City staff also updated the council on plans to create a dedicated five-person team within its code compliance department focused on the law restricting camping on city property. That will include hiring three new staff members, a cost that falls within the existing $350,000 budget to implement the camping ordinance, said Dale Bickell, the city’s chief administrative officer. 

In June, the city council restricted camping on city property and approved changes to those rules in December, including banning camping in all city parks and changing violations from a civil infraction to a misdemeanor. 

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Last year, the city hired two people to run the vehicle-camping permitting system outlined in the rules but needs three more to be more proactive to ensure compliance with the camping law, Bickell said. 

The team will work with the Poverello Center’s and Hope Rescue Mission’s outreach teams to help unsheltered people connect with services, Bickell said. The expansion will provide more time for staff to investigate resident complaints and perform small cleanups, he said. 

The additional staff would have been necessary regardless of the shelter closure, Bickell said. 

Earlier this month, the city announced it would close the Johnson Street temporary shelter in August because it’s out of money to fund operations. The city contracts with the Poverello Center to run the shelter and splits the $1.8 million bill with Missoula County. 

During the phased closure, the shelter will gradually decrease from its current 165-bed capacity. The shelter has recently held 140 to 160 people per night, Armstrong said. The city is working with the Poverello Center on a plan for the phased closure, which will require the nonprofit to change how it’s operating the shelter, she said. 

Council Member Daniel Carlino asked why the decrease in capacity is not tied directly to the number of people who get into housing and why the capacity should decrease at all, given the shelter is funded through August. 

Armstrong said while she hopes the sprint is closely aligned with decreases in capacity, the phased closure is similar to what’s been done in other locations.

“It’s not an ideal situation,” she said. “I think it’s the best way to manage the situation that we’re in in order to avoid a scenario where we have a really significant number of folks at the end and at the closure date. And it does create an urgency for us to do our very best to make sure the housing placements or positive solutions are mirroring that phase-down number as best as we possibly can.” 

This week, the city began holding planning meetings and will have daily 30-minute calls with participating service providers starting April 7, Armstrong said. More than 41 people from dozens of agencies attended the first meeting, including the Poverello Center, Crosswinds Recovery, the Housing Advocates Network, Hope Rescue Mission and the mobile support team, she said. 

“Our community is already showing up in full force for this,” Armstrong said. “It’s going to be hard, but it’s exciting to see people ready to go.” 

The on-site “office hours” will be from noon to 2 p.m. on Mondays and 5 p.m. to 7 p.m. on Wednesdays to accommodate different schedules and are subject to change if they don’t work for people staying at the shelter, Armstrong said. Anyone who shows up for those meetings can work with staff, but as of now only those who stayed at the Johnson Street shelter between January and March are eligible for the housing sprint funding, she said. 

Council Member Kristen Jordan said anyone who is unsheltered, particularly the most vulnerable, should be eligible for funding. 

Armstrong said the team is working on a plan to help those who were kicked out of the shelter. The city’s coordinated entry system, which connects homeless people with housing resources and support services, will continue as usual during the sprint. 

“The reality of the housing sprint is it’s a short period of time with a limited amount of resources,” she said. “We’re working really hard with service providers to have collective conversations about how we best utilize the resources we have available for this specific project to best serve folks specifically impacted by this closure.” 

After meeting with people to determine their income, housing goals and potential barriers to housing, the team will help connect them with rentals or other solutions like treatment, Armstrong said. The team is working with property managers and landlords to determine limitations and opportunities for housing people during the sprint, she said. To help people get into housing faster, the team is inquiring about paying to hold units and is tracking available rentals, Armstrong said.

The flexible funding raised for the housing sprint can be used for rental deposits, paying off rental or utility arrears, rental applications, transportation costs or anything that gets to a housing solution, Armstrong said. 

The city is looking to connect with advocacy groups to drum up volunteers to help people move, get to appointments and check in with them after they get into housing, Armstrong said. The Missoula Interfaith Collaborative’s Housing Advocate Network is preparing volunteers to help support the sprint, she said. 

Casey Dunning, executive director of the collaborative, said some of the network’s 80 volunteers will work at the Johnson Street shelter during the sprint and new volunteers are welcome. A collective effort is needed to address this communitywide problem, he said. 

The city encouraged people to donate to the housing sprint fund, volunteer with the Housing Advocate Network or help during the sprint. Interested landlords can reach out to the mayor’s office. 

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