Fifty years ago, the Poverello Center served its first Christmas meal. It’s unlikely they served more than 40 meals that year—a far cry from the over 400 meals we expect to serve this Christmas Day. We began with a mission to feed Missoula’s neighbors in need. Half a century later, we provide much more than food. We offer shelter, mail, laundry, showers, computer access, outreach with the HOT team, veteran case management, medical respite, career training, and help accessing IDs and other documentation to help people get services and jobs.
When Missoulians have nowhere else to go, they come to us. We are a critical safety net for our community. We can do our work because we’ve had incredible donors, volunteers, staff, and supporters over the past five decades. We are grateful to live in this wonderful community where people are willing to help those in need.
However, Missoula has changed significantly since we opened our doors. Even the past five years have dramatically shifted, as housing has become increasingly unaffordable for many people of various income levels. This is one reason that more and more people are living out of their cars or needing shelter for the first time. Our community is experiencing a homelessness crisis, and everyone is feeling the ripple effects.
It’s important to remember that there isn’t one type of person living unsheltered. Foster kids age out of the system with no place to go. Families are fleeing domestic violence. People are working but are losing their apartments to new developments and increasing rents. And many, including a disproportionate number of our military veterans, are struggling with mental illness or substance use disorder.
Despite our community’s challenges, we are working on solutions and we are making progress. We know that homelessness in Missoula can be solved through personalized care and proactive strategies. However, to make a noticeable change in people’s lives and our community, it will take both individual support and long-term systems change, and no one solution will fix it.
In 2024, we helped 134 individuals move from shelter into temporary or permanent housing, served thousands of nutritious meals, and guided dozens toward employment. We know connections matter, so staff learn client names and stories, foster person-focused care, and treat everyone with dignity and respect. Our staff work evenings and weekends at Blue Heron Place, a permanent supportive housing facility, often supporting previous Poverello guests after transitioning to housing.
We are advancing policies that address the root causes of homelessness. In 2021, we spearheaded the Montana Coalition to Solve Homelessness, uniting service providers across the state to address mental health needs, medical respite, state funding for shelters, and other state supports. We work with city and county officials, service providers, and other community leaders to create a Missoula where homelessness is rare and brief. In 2025, we are breaking ground on a new location for our transitional housing program for veterans transitioning out of homelessness. We are also working toward achieving functional zero veteran homelessness by Veterans Day 2026.
As the longest night of the year, locally recognized as Homeless Persons’ Memorial Day, approaches, we urge you to explore ways to support the organizations offering food, shelter, help, and hope in Missoula. It will take all of us working together to build the Missoula we envision — one where everyone has a place to call home and no one spends the night in the cold.
Jill Bonny, Executive Director of the Poverello Center.
To learn more and support the Poverello Center during this time of year, visit thepoverellocenter.org/donate