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Homelessness Public Comment from Kayla EreauxKayla Ereaux 124 3rd Ave E Kalispell, MT 59901 (541)609-7177 Kereauxll207@gmail.com May 22, 2024 Dear Kalispell City Council, I am a high school student in Kalispell who is very concerned about the homelessness in Kalispell and would like to reach out and share some concerns and changes we could make and a possible outcome. Despite Kalispell's growing economy there are too many people living on the streets and unhoused. According to the "MT Continuum of Care Coalition" it was estimated that there were 319 homeless people in Kalispell in 2022. Kalispell has the second highest homeless population in Montana right next to Missoula with about 325 homeless people. Addressing homelessness in Kalispell requires a multifaceted approach because the situation is way bigger than just providing shelter to the people who need it. We need to address the root causes of this homelessness inflation and look at the high house prices which can lead to more homelessness in Kalispell. That can and should be changed because Kalispell can effectively reduce homelessness by addressing the multiple root causes. An important starting point would be that we could start by increasing access to homes and also community based services and houses that are affordable and accessible to the people in the community who need the assistance. In short, homelessness impacts Kalispell. There are ways to make positive change. The possible outcomes of hard work to decrease homelessness will have benefits for the whole community. LVWFMWWAW0� MX0 "PMOM X_U Jt= V6 Homelessness impacts everyone in a community in some way whether you are on the streets, sheltered, not homeless at all, or just visiting the community. The article "Community Impact" by caring works' shares examples about how a homeless community can affect everyone else around them. In the article they say it's like a "ripple effect." Some ways that this can affect other people living in a community where homelessness is high because it affects the availability of healthcare resources, crime and safety, the workforce, and how tax dollars are used. The way that homelessness affects healthcare is because it makes accessing health care more difficult for everyone else who needs it. Sickness, struggles with mental health and injury are more likely for people who are homeless, so medical resources often go to helping in emergencies. Being homeless and unsheltered can affect and worsen mental health and behavior which can make it worse for people just visiting or living there because they might not know what to expect. The way they can affect tax dollars is because a lot of money goes to helping or regulating the homeless community. Authors of "Community Impact" also write that the HUD (United States Department of Housing and Urban Development) announced that about 3.16 billion dollars went to the homeless in the United States in 2024 and the money could have gone somewhere else to help communities in different ways if fewer people were homeless. According to the article "How the Homeless Affects the Community" the cost of homelessness is about $40,000 a year in the state of Montana with homeless shelters, jails, and emergency rooms. The article states that people who are homeless don't get the health treatments that they need which can lead them to get sick and have it spread to everyone else. In the article it also talks about how local economies and tourism can be affected because the shelters could be taken up mostly things like hotels. What do these numbers mean for Kalispell? Well, this impacts everyone because roads that can be fixed with the money that is getting used on homelessness are not. The tax dollars can be used on other things to help the community and when most of the money is going to the homeless then there isn't a lot of money left for the community to fix roads, build more homes, and so much more. Also with the homeless on the streets tourists aren't always going to want to see that so this can lead to people not wanting to visit which can have the community lose money for other things. The reason the impact of the homeless is such a big deal is because it can affect the community in a bad way. We've looked at the expense of healthcare, but other areas include: crime and safety, the work force, used tax dollars, and so much more. Obviously, we should use our resources to help the most possible people in our communities, so let's consider ways to reduce homelessness. This will help those who need help finding and keeping homes, but will also help everyone else in our community, too. When thinking about the homelessness and how it's such a big deal we can look at some of the ways we can change this because there are multiple different steps we could take. In the article "Social Service Providers Outline Strategies to Reduce Homeless Population" published by Maggie Dresser, authors share that the community of Kalispell had shared strategies and outlined them that could be "implemented" to help solve the homeless population. They wanted to increase low-income housing stock. If Kalispell were to increase the low income housing there then it would be a lot easier for people to afford housing. If we were to fix the low income housing it would help people get housed. The big idea and first part of the plan should be to start with making affordable housing for the community who needs it. Some other ways that are said in the article to be able to help reduce homelessness are collaborating with housing providers, developers, nonprofits, and government agencies and increasing public awareness and community involvement. If there was also an increase in public awareness about the homeless, more people would probably be willing to help out the homeless or help build shelters so that people could at least be housed. This can expand the type of housing while influencing state policies. This would make it where they could generate more subsidized housing for the ones who need it. Doing more of these things to help people who are homeless in many different ways, not just building houses that are more affordable. The reason why taking action to make change is such a big deal is because you have to start somewhere for the homeless people in the community. Starting out with just making affordable housing would be a great start for the people who make enough money to afford cheap housing. Then we could move to the other steps to make the whole community happy, homeless or not because people would be getting moved off the streets. When talking about all the changes we could make we should also talk about the outcome of helping the homeless community in Kalispell and how it can benefit not only the homeless community but the whole community of Kalispell. In the article "How Homelessness Affects the Community," by "Unity Parenting" states how being homeless can cause problems for the people, not just them being unhoused. People who are homeless are more likely to have increased poor health because of the factor that they don't have money to pay for health care and when they are staying in shelters it's not always the cleanest place. If we were to help the homeless and get housing for themselves it would benefit them because then they are around more clean areas to stay healthy. Also when they are living with affordable housing they could potentially save up to get some sort of health insurance or even just be able to keep a job that provides healthcare. That can benefit them because then they would be able to be healthy enough to get started on their next life steps. Furthermore, when other people are homeless it also affects everybody else living in the community because the streets are taken up by homeless people.. There are people staying in parks kids usually play in, and lastly some places get shut down like parks because of the amount of homeless people living there. When moving the homeless into housing or at least getting them off the street will make it where the streets get cleared up and have a better sight for tourists which can make more tourists want to come visit more which means more companies making money from them. Also when getting the homeless out of the parks more parents would feel more safe having their kids there because some homeless people aren't the safest and fall onto the wrong path. Lastly some of the parks and areas that get closed off because the amount of people staying there can get opened up for people to enjoy again. The reason the outcome of this all is such a big deal is because looking at the good ending will be more reassuring than not having any outcome at all. Also having these outcomes can help not only the homeless but everyone in Kalispell. So despite the Community growth there are just far too many people unhoused and on the streets and can cause an impact like having 319 homeless people in Kalispell. We can change Kalispell from being the second state to have the most homeless people to having less and less everyday. When we talk about homelessness in Kalispell there are alot of impacts it makes, there can be positive changes made, and lastly there can be a good outcome for it overall. All that needs to happen is the community makes steps to change the homelessness. In conclusion, the reason helping people get housed or off the streets is because everyone needs a little help sometimes and this can help everyone in Kalispell and also it can just make the community of Kalispell a better place where people want to visit and be in. The solution to homelessness in Kalispell is not just putting roofs over peoples' heads but also to have a community and city council to help and care about the big issue, so the time is now that we should start acting and putting effort to change before it's too late. Sincerely, I4lU ve- Kayla Ereaux Works Cited "Community Impact I The Community Impact on Homelessness." CaringWorks, Inc., 2023, www caringworksinc.org/our-impacticommunity-impact/#: -: text=Homelessness%20Af fe cts%20AII%20orloo20Us&text=lt%20impacts%20the%20availability%20of. Accessed 17 May 2024. Dresser, Maggie. "Social Service Providers Outline Strategies to Reduce Homeless Population." Flathead Beacon, 26 Aug. 2023, flatheadbeacon.com/2023/08/26/social-service providers-outline-strategies-to-reduce-ho meless population/. Accessed 17 May 2024. "How Homelessness Affects the Community." Unity Parenting and Counseling, 18 Oct. 2021, unityporenting.org/homelessness-affects-the-community/#:^':text=People%20 experiencingY620 homelessness%20have%20an,difficult%20to%20 ward%20 off10620 illnesses. "Prevent Homelessness." The United States Interagency Council on Homelessness. Www.usich.gov, www.usich.gov/federal-strategic-plan/prevent-homelessness. Accessed 13 May 2024.