LACK OF HOUSING - In many places there is a shortage of available places to live. Recently, Montana has seen a record number of people moving into the state and when there is such a high demand for housing, prices go up.

INCOME AND HOUSING AFFORDABILITY - The cost of paying rent or buying a home continues increasing, but the amount of income that many people make is not enough to afford these costs, even in households with more than one person working. This is called the housing affordability gap.

HEALTH - A mental or physical injury or illness may prevent a person from work or lead to them losing their job and no longer being able to afford their rent. Medical costs in America are very expensive and may also lead people into a lot of financial debt. Homelessness often worsens or creates new health problems.

ESCAPING VIOLENCE - Some people live in a situation where they experience abuse from someone in their household. To protect themselves or other family members, they may leave their situation without an alternative place to live or with the income to be able to afford a home on their own.

RACIAL INEQUALITY - In the United States, minoritized group are more likely to experience homelessness than white people. The rates are highest among African American and Indigenous populations. “This is largely due to long-standing historical and structural prejudice and racism.”

Source: National Alliance to End Homelessness

Myth: People experiencing homelessness just need to get a job and then they would not be homeless.

Fact: Many people who are homeless do have jobs, sometimes more than one. The National Coalition for the Homeless estimates as many as 40%-60% of people experiencing homelessness nationwide are employed.

Source: Council for the Homeless

Myth: People experiencing homelessness don’t want housing; they choose that lifestyle.

Fact: Experiencing homelessness is stressful, exhausting, dangerous and often traumatizing. This Myth allows us to ignore, dismiss or minimize the problem of homelessness. Some people who are homeless may choose to sleep outside rather than in shelters because they are fearful of having to leave pets and belongings outside. In addition, many shelters and homeless housing programs have stringent eligibility criteria and rules that ‘screen out’ some people.

Source: Washington State Department of Commerce

Myth: Homelessness is only a problem in big cities.

Fact: There are people experiencing homelessness or housing insecurity in every state in the United States including Montana. According to the U.S. Interagency Council on Homelessness, in 2020 Montana had a total of 1,545 households experiencing homelessness on any given day. These numbers continue to increase.

Source: United States Interagency Council on Homelessness

Myth: Only single adults experience homelessness.

Fact: There are many families and children that also experience homelessness. in 2020 Montana had a total of 4,216 students experiencing homelessness on any given day. These numbers continue to increase.

Source: United States Interagency Council on Homelessness

Myth: If someone is homeless, it means they did something wrong or made a “bad” decision.

Fact: More often than not, people enter homelessness for reasons that are out of their control. A sudden illness, accident, death of a family member, losing a job and falling into debt are the common factors that lead to homelessness.

Source: Futurity

The following are transcriptions of interviews conducted by Sarah Butts of HAN. Transcriptions edited for brevity by Sarah Butts.

Sometimes stories make it easier to understand a situation. Here are stories from real people from our state experiencing income inequality and housing challenges.

HILARY

I ENJOY COOKING, READING AND SNUGGLING WITH MY MANY CATS.

I moved to Missoula in the middle of Covid to do AmeriCorps in a position at the University. My partner and I were pushed out of Bozeman as we couldn't afford to live there anymore. I was living in a duplex doing my undergrad with a friend and when our lease expired our rent went up 50%. $1200 - to $1800/month. We couldn't afford that. We just had to move.

When looking for a place to rent in places like Bozeman or Missoula, you have to be on-line all day long every day. You have to be the first one to respond to a listing as there are like 60 other people looking. Sometimes you have to miss out on work. A lot of places require 3 times the income requirement. Well I don't know anyone that is making that much and renting. It took us a whole month of looking all day every day to find something we could afford at the very last minute in Lolo. People like us have to move further and further out of town, because they can't afford to live in town, but have to work in town. That is isolating.

Since moving to Missoula, I have also been volunteering as an advocate for Housing Advocate Network. I spent a few years after high school living on the streets of my hometown making a lot of poor decisions and it has taken me a long time to get to where I am today. I still have friends that are dealing with addiction and homelessness. It is just something I care about. So, when I heard about HAN, I wanted to be a part of something like this.

Being a housing advocate has been so emotional. People I’ve worked with were so diligent and doing what they needed to reach their housing goals. We problem solved together, figured out next steps and followed up with leads. They were so grateful. They told me, “you helped us from being hopeless.” To me that is the point of the program.

People end up in situations, people fleeing domestic violence, or other issues through no fault of their own, people are put in situations that could happen to any of us and I think a lot of people think it is all about hard work and grit and don't acknowledge there is a lot of luck involved in all of our lives.

Missoula is going to lose a lot of community-oriented people because they can't afford to live here. My partner and I were hopeful we could put down some roots here but now that I am almost done with my contract, we are looking to leave because we can't afford to stay.

When you can't afford to live in a place, you don't feel wanted. We don't feel wanted.

I feel like there are things that could be done but for some reason they aren’t happening. I don't know...I'm just kind of tired.

GERI

I WAS A COMPETITIVE ATHELETE FOR MUCH OF MY LIFE.

In 2004 I was going to be deployed to Iraq. When I was in army training, I got a really bad back injury and ended up getting discharged. It took me five or six years to accept the fact that I wouldn’t get to go overseas. It bothered me. I wanted my babies to be proud of me. I wanted to do the 20-year career thing. My dream was to be a general of my own base, but it didn’t happen because of this injury.

After that, I started school at University of Montana and struggled off and on. My back was really bad. I started falling into depression and quit going to class. Medication wasn’t right yet which also screwed me up with school. I went to my graduation and then got a letter saying I was seven credits short for my degree. I tried to get back in school, but my depression really hit hard. So, one day I paid for a U-haul and loaded up everything and left to be with my mom and take care of my grandpa. I have a lot of student debt from that time and it really messed up my credit and I haven’t been able to fix it.

Last summer I returned to Missoula because this is where my daughters and I want to be. Because I was taking care of my grandpa and living with relatives, I have an unusual rental history. This has made it really hard for me to find a place to live because a lot of places won’t even talk to me or consider someone with unusual rental history or low credit. I make plenty of income but that doesn’t even matter. It’s frustrating because life happens, things happen. I wish people would take time to talk to me and let me explain my situation. It is all about money. We are living in numbers…

One of my other big struggles in finding housing comes because of my color. I am Native American. There are these stereotypes that all Native Americans are poor, that we are dirty that we are drunks. I will talk to a landlord on the phone and they will tell me one thing and when I show up to look at the rental, all of sudden the story changes. I was looking at a rental property with my housing advocate who is white, and the owner spoke to her and only her. I wanted to tell him to have a little courtesy and that there is more than one person in the conversation and to give eye contact to me too.

I have lived in Montana my whole life. I am a registered member of a tribe in Montana. It is so frustrating not being able to find a place to live where I belong. I am getting to a point now where I feel like I am running out of options and might have to go live with my son in Virginia. I don’t want to have to uproot my daughters and live somewhere else. I feel that part of me would die because Montana is where I belong.

TONYA

I LOVE SUNRISES, SUNSETS, FISHING AND HIKING WITH MY FAMILY.

Housing is so hard to find. What is out there is so expensive, and they don’t account for people on social security with kids. I am paying almost $1400 per month for a motel room for me and my three grandchildren that I raise.

I get guardian foster care pay which is about $1500-$1700 per month.

I pay for my motel room…and there goes almost all of that check.

I get $871 per month in social security combined with my disability income.

But then there’s my phone bill….

And gas for my car…

And food….

Other bills that I need to pay….

It’s not enough! Wages and income don’t add up to the prices of housing costs or anything else.

You look at all this housing that is going up all over town and they say that a lot of it is “low income.” But they are charging what…like $1500 to $2000 or more for a two-bedroom apartment? How ridiculous! That is not low income. It makes no sense. It’s all about profits and making money. We are turning our backs on low income families.

Sometimes people look down on someone in my spot. They belittle you and make you feel less than them without even knowing the situation.

Or people think:

“Oh you’re homeless, what happened? Are you not smart enough to go to work or are you too lazy to go to work?”

I have gotten those things thrown at me.

I’m not lazy. I have worked hard my entire life until about 13 years ago.

I feel like people that are elderly or that have a disability, mentally or physically are kinda just thrown to the side.

What keeps me going is knowing I have a bigger purpose. I am still figuring out what it is. I know it’s got a lot to do with raising my grandchildren and also about keeping other people safe and standing up for what we need to stand up for if we want things to change. We need a big change where the right things are available for everybody. This whole situation could be figured out, it could be solved but it seems like there are some people that don’t want it to get figured out.

We need to start taking care of each other. If we don’t what are we gonna do? Where are we headed? What is Missoula gonna turn into?

RICHARD

I LOOK FORWARD EVERYDAY TO MY MORNING CUP OF COFFEE.

For all of my life, I never had a problem getting an apartment…but it’s just not like that anymore. I have been living in a place that’s real small, it has paper thin walls and I don’t always feel safe. It has been almost two years of trying to get into a different home. It has been a battle. It’s felt scary you know…like “how can I get myself out of this predicament?” When you keep getting the door slammed in your face it’s hard. It is a lot harder getting a place to live than it is finding a job, I can tell you that. I work but my income makes it hard for me to qualify for a lot of places. I just want to have a roof over my head and feel safe and to get to have some fun in the summer, enjoy the days. I want life to not be chaotic has it has been.

My friends have helped me stay hopeful and I don’t want to let them down. I just never give up. There have been a lot of people that have helped me. My housing advocate has done a lot. They’ve helped with paperwork and deadlines and whatnot cause there’s a lot to keep track of. I don’t have a computer and am not computer literate at the moment, so that makes it hard because everything is done online and on a computer.

Things are starting to look better. In fact, this morning, I got a phone call that I was accepted for a place. I can’t believe it. After almost two years….It is hard to explain how it feels…

The landlady that accepted me for the apartment was really kind. She kept me on a wait list when she didn’t have to. In the building I am going to, they only have a vacancy once every six months or so and there are a lot of people on the list. After this long process I finally got to meet her. She said, “it is nice to finally meet you after all this time!” I was like “yeah, it is!!” I got to fill out an application finally and then was called today and told I was approved. I can’t believe it.

Moving into my new place will change everything. I will be able to enjoy my cup of coffee in the morning and not have to stress. So much stress will be gone.

I wish people understood how hard it is just to survive sometimes. I wish people knew what it took for people to keep on trying and keep on being hopeful. You know? I would like people to open their hearts a little bit and their minds and think about if they were in somebody else’s shoes because not everybody has an easy road.

Be kind and avoid making assumptions:We never know what someone has been through. We are all human and we have experienced challenges. Showing kindness and compassion is a simple act that makes a huge impact.

Donate and Share Time: There are many organizations around Montana working to address the needs of those experiencing homelessness or at risk of homelessness. Many of them rely on volunteers and donations of money or items like clothing and toiletries.

Learn: Homelessness is a growing issue in Montana and around the country. It is an issue that impacts all of us in some way. Learning more may help you imagine more possibilities for action. Check out the resources included in your study pack!

What ideas do you have about ways that individuals and communities can take action?

Is homelessness an issue that we should all work toward addressing, even if we personally are not experiencing it? Why or why not?

What do you think would be some of the most challenging things about being homeless?

Are you surprised by any of the five factors leading to homelessness? Which ones?

Have you ever experienced someone make an assumption about you that wasn’t true? What was that like?

Online Resources:

National Center for Homeless Education

U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development

National Alliance To End Homelessness

Books:

From the Ashes: My Story of Being Métis, Homeless, and Finding My Way By Jesse Thistle (Métis/Cree)

No Way Home: The Crisis of Homelessness and How to Fix It with Intelligence and Humanity by Wayne Winegarden

The Book on Ending Homelessness by Iain De Jong

Hobos, Hustlers, and Backsliders: Homeless in San Francisco by Teresa Gowan

No Fixed Address by Susin Nielson (young adult novel)