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There truly is no place like home – Daily Montanan [1]

['More From Author', 'October', 'Mary Ann Dunwell']

Date: 2023-10-28  

“They found his body the next morning,” a woman, previously homeless herself, recounted.

The two had become friends, enduring life on the streets, part of a homeless community who had each other’s backs in the rough and tumble, traumatic world they managed to survive. Or not.

A panel of people without homes or who escaped the scary streets kicked off the weeklong Housing is Healthcare Summit in Helena recently. The big question—how we tackle our homeless and affordable housing crisis while facing an airtight, sky-high rental market that in Lewis and Clark County is among the top five highest in the entire U.S. The rest of Montana doesn’t fare much better.

A shoutout to United Way, Helena Housing Authority, Montana Healthcare Foundation, Good Samaritan Ministries, St. Peter’s Health, Carroll College, Pureview Health Center, Many Rivers Whole Health, state Housing Division, CSH Housing Solutions for making the summit possible and for the tireless work you do, with limited resources. Also, a shoutout to landlords who work with them, slog through paperwork, accept housing vouchers, keep rental units above reproach, and help folks who need a place to live that’s within their financial reach. Problem is: 64 % of housing vouchers go unused in Lewis and Clark County and it’s not much better statewide. There’s such a housing shortage. Montana needs 18,000 more units.

Let’s roll up our sleeves for solutions. State policy like workforce housing tax credits and an affordable housing trust fund for grants. Most states have these. We need to appropriate more money to the Low Interest Multifamily Coal Trust Loan Program. We did raise the amount, but not nearly what it needs, despite a $3 billion revenue balance.

Let’s bring back the State Interagency Council on Homelessness that the late former Gov. Judy Martz created. Allow the state to use Medicaid for housing. After all, housing is healthcare.

We need to consider a state tax credit for landlords who keep rents affordable. Or an insurance pool for them. Repeal regressive laws that passed, but prohibit zoning or development that assures low income and affordable housing are included.

Let’s implement made-in-Montana ways to use federal HUD money we already get. Help good-actor landlords pay for mitigation, so they can house more people sooner. Pay for renters’ first and last month’s rent, application fees, and hold fees. There’s so much demand that bad-actor landlords charge $200 or more just to hold your place on a waiting list—that’s after the $100 or so non-refundable application fee.

Let’s reject NIMBY or “Not in my backyard” thinking. Practice WIMBY, “Welcome in my backyard.”

With thousands of people on the streets, couch surfing, or fragilely housed in Montana, we need an “all hands on deck” response because housing is healthcare and there’s no place like home.

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