Flathead Warming Center Staff Video for you Public Comment from Flathead Warming CenterDear Kalispell City Council,
As a team, we find ourselves in the position to defend our mission against misconceptions about what we do, who we serve, and how we serve. In March the Flathead Warming Center entered
into a PR campaign. We have used clips from our staff to put together this 3 1/2 minute video for you.
Hearing from the "frontlines" of how we do this work is very important. Our staff wanted to share their voice. A couple of our staff members hope to share their perspective during public
comment Monday night. The Warming Center has been very blessed with amazing staff members. (Master level Social Worker, Licensed Addictions Counselor, a previous Sheriff Deputy, social
work student, an emergency room patient navigator, a Montana Certified Peer Support Specialist, two previous Warming Center Guests, and two current Warming Center Guests. Six of our
staff members (half) have returned for multiple seasons. I would be amiss if I failed to report that we have numerous volunteers return year after year and this past winter season,
we had 61 new volunteers working directly onsite with our guests. This information should be considered in our defense of a violent and criminal picture that has been painted of our
guests and of the Warming Center by some community members. Please question. Would we have such community support and the strength of returning professional staff if we were indeed
a shady operation, as painted by those who would like to see us go away. The truth is just the opposite. It is because of our strong team and the investment of our community that we
continue to improve year after year. We have seen great progress in our mission!
This is a video of a few of our staff members. A few staff members want to make public comments on Monday night. Please pay close attention to their voices. (We are all nervous, but
especially the staff who wish to speak, despite their nerves, because of their passion in our mission and their direct knowledge of the pain involved in homelessness.) We have been
blessed with good staff who have been deeply engaged with Warming Center guests through our individualized Roadmaps out of homelessness, as well as being on the frontline of the services
we provide to our entire community, to include holding our guests accountable.
Hearing from our staff is worth your time.
Thank you for listening to all comments from our community. We recognize that this is a very emotionally charged subject and that comments to the City and Council are not always respectful
of you as a professional or as a person. You love our town too and deserve to be respected.
https://youtu.be/KMAfSekRy6w <https://gcc02.safelinks.protection.outlook.com/?url=https%3A%2F%2Fyoutu.be%2FKMAfSekRy6w&data=05%7C02%7Cjfunk%40kalispell.com%7Ccabcc9e65116474ff40608dc7059cee5%7C6219d7
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Tonya Horn
Executive Director
Flathead Warming Center
(406) 250-8652
<https://ci3.googleusercontent.com/mail-sig/AIorK4zR_lum3UeZlV4g1Q3g4PZvoqQOpnuSV8NBaAo88E7xtbhgNrqSvrPNqja30cE16b86ZioCnYMI129p>