Flathead Warming Center from Cheryl ColwellJudi Funk
From: Cheryl Colwell <mail@cherylcolwell.com>
Sent: Sunday, May 19, 2024 9:48 PM
To: Kalispell Meetings Public Comment
Subject: EXTERNAL Flathead Warming Center
Dear City Council Members,
I was shocked to hear of the possibility of closing the Flathead Warming Center. At a time when poverty
and inflation are taking their toll on the most vulnerable in our community, we shouldn't undo the one
stopgap we have to show humanity and compassion to these people. As the former editor of the Rogue
Retreat Newsletter, which works to shed light on solutions for homelessness, I have been able to
personally interview many homeless individuals to understand their story.
Many of these individuals are situationally homeless. That is, they lost their job, then lost their house, lost
their car, had family die or move away, and find themselves on the street. They are in a downward spiral.
They are traumatized and afraid. Any of us would be. When they can get into the Warming Center, they
are relieved to have a safe place to go at night where they won't be assaulted. By having a place to
shower, wash their clothes and sleep, some of these folks get jobs and get back on their feet. They aren't
bad people, just in a bad place.
Then we have those who have checked out of society. Many of them have mental health issues -
dementia, PTSD, abuse. Unfortunately, a number of them are drug addicts and alcoholics. If these are
troublemakers, they aren't allowed at the Warming Center, yet their actions reflect on the entire homeless
population.
Saddest of all is the fact that the largest growing segment of homelessness nationwide is the elderly. I've
spoken with them personally. They have a social security check that will buy them food but no shelter.
They sleep under bridges or behind buildings and hoped they won't be robbed. They are old and tired, but
they walk the streets pulling what little they own behind them. I've seen them eat dinner provided at the
Warming Shelter, then go immediately to their beds to sleep off the exhaustion till they must move
outside again.
I don't think it is too much to ask our community, and especially you, our community leaders, to extend
compassion to ease a portion of their misery by allowing the Warming Center to continue to serve them;
to keep 50 tired, cold human beings off the street and out of harm's way at night. The alternative is all
those people will have to find shelter somewhere, causing even more of a presence in our neighborhoods.
Opponents of the Flathead Warming Center like to say these people are flocking here from other places
because we make it easy on them. No, most of these people are our neighbors, and even with the Center
open, life is not at all easy when you have no home, no safety.
Please stand strong for this good cause and lead our community to creative solutions that work for
everyone. As the directors of the Warming Center have discovered, there are many of us who want to be
part of the solution if we're told where we can help.
Respectfully,
Cheryl Colwell Huffman
Kalispell, MT