Church in Great Falls, Montana, removes homeless encampment after city commission update

The Great Falls City Commission received an update on Tuesday, August 2, 2022, concerning First United Methodist Church and the dismantling of a homeless encampment on church property.

The encampment was located at 610 2nd Avenue North and had been on the church’s property since the winter of 2021. Pastor Jeff Wakely noticed homeless people struggling with the cold weather and, wanting to help, allowed them to stay on the property, where the encampment was set up in the parking lot (Matthew 25:35). The source states that this arrangement violated zoning codes.

After a lawsuit was filed against the church, community members raised questions about what the city did while the encampment was forming, where the homeless population would go, and what resources were available. Some nonprofit partners met at the meeting to discuss those resources.

Gary Owen, president of United Way of Cascade County, said, “The local continuum of care is simply a community initiative of concerned organizations and citizens that work to address homelessness to make it rare, brief, and nonrecurring.” He said the group’s goal is to help the homeless population find permanent housing. Owen also said many of the people staying at the encampment could be considered chronically homeless, meaning they cannot be expected to maintain the housing they would be placed in, and that some may still struggle to find a place to go.

Deb Kottel, executive director at Saint Vincent De Paul, said, “There is not enough housing in this community. There is a definite shortage of where you can place an individual in terms of their income ability.”

Kottel also described where some people from the encampment had gone while transitional or permanent housing was sought. “When we looked at the homeless that were moved, a portion of the homeless went back to reservation communities,” she said. “Some of the homeless in that church group were sheltered, but a good third of the homeless are back on the streets.”

Following that information, Karla Seaman and Gina Black, both employees at Opportunities Inc., reviewed outcomes for the overall homeless population in Great Falls and provided a list of resources available to people in need of assistance.

First United Methodist Church said it is looking for a way to work with the city to accommodate both the homeless population and the rest of the community. The church complied with the city’s request, and the homeless encampment has since been dismantled.

Source: Read the original report