Community Strategy to Address Houselessness

In addition to tabling at community events, we will be setting up our table in various locations around Missoula this summer to build connections and hear from you. Stop by one of the locations below to say hi, learn about the work underway to craft a new community to address houselessness, and share your thoughts. We hope to see you there!

• Tuesday, August 6th from 9:00am-11:00am - Inside the Salvation Army (355 S Russell St)
• Monday, August 12th from 3:30pm-5:30pm - Outside City Hall on the corner of Woody St and W Spruce St
• Thursday, August 22nd from 9:30am-11:30am - Inside the Missoula Public Library (455 E Main St)
• Thursday, August 22nd from 12:30-2:30pm - Inside the Salvation Army (355 S Russell St)
• Wednesday, September 4th from 4:00pm-6:00pm - Outside City Hall on the corner of Woody St and W Spruce St
• Tuesday, September 17th from 2:00pm-4:00pm - Inside the Missoula Public Library (455 E Main St)

Wednesday, July 31, 2024
6:00pm-8:00pm
McCormick Park
600 Cregg Lane, 59801

Pro Housing Missoula is hosting informal community events in parks across Missoula this summer to chat with you - the neighbors of Missoula - about housing in Missoula. It's a great, informal way to chat with the Pro Housing team and other partners working to address housing needs in our community and ask any questions that you might have. Staff from City of Missoula Houseless Programs will be there tabling. Come on by to say hi and ask us questions about the project to create a new community strategy to address houselessness! Stop by any time between 6:00 p.m. to 8:00 p.m.

Tuesday, July 9, 2024
5:00pm-7:00pm
Playfair Park
1500 Mcdonald Ave, 59801

City Chats in the Parks is a drop-in, informal, and awesome way to chat with City staff, ask questions, and meet your neighbors. Come hear about the project to create a new community strategy to address houselessness and other City-wide projects and initiatives. Stop by any time between 5:00 p.m. to 7:00 p.m.

Attendees at the Town Hall on April 4th placed stickers indicating their support or disagreement with a number of national best practice approaches and programs to address houselessness. Take a look here to get a sense of what stood out and where current local interest lies.

Town Hall on Thursday, April 4^th between 6:00pm-8:00pm at Missoula Community Theater (200 N Adams St, in the Meeting Room)

All Missoula community members are welcome! The town hall will be an interactive forum to gather community priorities and discuss existing and future strategies to respond to houselessness in our area. Join us to learn about Missoula’s houseless response system, share your experiences and expertise, and participate in community-wide strategy development. The event will include presentations starting every 30 minutes, local experts who can help answer your questions, and activity stations to share your ideas and vote on best practices and strategies. Come and go as it fits your schedule! To have enough snacks and resources for everyone, we encourage you to email missoulastrategy@homebaseccc.org if you plan to attend.

Focus Group: Experiencing Houselessness for the 1^st Time, Wednesday April 3^rd from 3:30-4:30pm at Revive Church Basement (2811 Latimer St)

This focus group is open to anyone who identifies as a person currently or recently experiencing houselessness for the 1^st time. Homebase will facilitate focus groups and ask questions about participants’ experiences and ideas for improving the local response to houselessness. There are 20 spots available for this focus group and all participants will be compensated with a $35 Visa gift card. The 20 spots are first come first serve. If you plan to attend either focus group, we encourage you to email missoulastrategy@homebaseccc.org to reserve a spot OR to arrive 5-10 minutes early.

Focus Group: Unaccompanied Houseless Youth, Thursday April 4^th from 10:30-11:30am at Currents Aquatic Center (600 Cregg Ln)

This focus group is open to anyone who identifies as a person under 24 years old who is, or recently was, living outside, in a shelter, or couchsurfing and does not live with parents or other family members. Homebase will facilitate focus groups and ask questions about participants’ experiences and ideas for improving the local response to houselessness. There are 20 spots available for this focus group and all participants will be compensated with a $35 Visa gift card. The 20 spots are first come first serve. If you plan to attend either focus group, we encourage you to email missoulastrategy@homebaseccc.org to reserve a spot OR to arrive 5-10 minutes early.

We’re ramping up strategy development to prevent and reduce homelessness, and we at Homebase (a non-profit technical assistance provider for advancing solutions to homelessness) are facilitating this community-engaged process. As a first step, we want to ensure the Community Planning Leadership Group includes people with lived experience of homelessness. The Leadership Group will identify priorities and direct the strategy development process, so it will be important to have a diverse representation of voices within the Leadership Group.

Homebase and the City of Missoula need your help recruiting people with lived experience to apply to the Leadership Group! Your organizations are best positioned to bridge information-sharing and connections with lived experts in Missoula. We have created an online application and flyer that you can easily share around the community.

Individuals selected to participate in the Leadership Group will be compensated ($35/hour) and will be expected to meet 3 or more times through the Spring and Summer in a combination of in-person and online meetings. After the Leadership Group concludes, there may be opportunity for continued work.

Thank you so much in advance for your helping advertise this opportunity. If you have any questions please don’t hesitate to reach out! The Homebase team can be reached at emergingcommunities@homebaseccc.org.

Application link: https://bit.ly/49AuRui Please ask people to apply by March 3rd.