Finding a room to rent in recent weeks has meant a world of difference to Zack Summers of Kalispell.

Summers, 19, had been homeless since March.

“There have been a lot of setbacks,” Summers said.

Age and no rental history worked against him in his housing search. He just turned 19 in early July.

What works in his favor is that he has a regular paycheck from working two jobs. He also has a high school diploma.

Graduating from Flathead High School in May was no easy feat for the teenager between school, work and an uncertain future of where he would sleep or eat as circumstances changed.

“It was like the last semester, and I felt, yeah, maybe I should just like continue and get this done so it would be more easier to get a job,” Summers said.

The subdued teenager was matter-of-fact about his experience being homeless during an interview at a local coffee house July 30. At the time he was temporarily living with a co-worker.

“The longest was about eight or nine days,” Summers said. “The first night I was really homeless none of my friends at the time could take me in and I decided to go to the bike path near the college — the tunnel under the highway. I tried sleeping under there. It was constantly lit and it was really frigid cold. I couldn’t sleep, so I ended up walking to Walmart and staying the night until I had to go to school. It was the first thing I could think of at the time.”

Occasionally, Summers would stay in a motel if he had enough money.

By day, Summers either was at work or at Flathead High School. In addition to textbooks, Summers carried all of his personal belongings to school.

“It was a little bit on my mind because I had some bags of clothes with me that I had to take in and had to leave one bag because I couldn’t carry these two giant bags of clothes. So I just left one in my locker down in the gym and I just carried the little one all of the time,” Summers said.

Of legal age to stay in a local shelter, yet still a high school student, Summers preferred to live with people he knew — plus he didn’t know where the shelter was located.

His break soon came from a fellow classmate.

For three months during the school year Summers had a semi-permanent place to stay with his classmate’s family — the Bumkes of Kalispell.

“It was really good stability. I’m forever grateful for that family. They got me back on my feet and they gave me good advice,” Summers said.

Summers is not the first homeless student who has stayed with the family, said Flathead High School parent Marcia Bumke. Bumke is now part of a community effort with the Flathead High School parent group focused on organizing temporary shelter for homeless students who do not have immediate or extended family members to live with.

“I think the very sad thing is the anxiety, the panic, the struggle, the heartache [and] the hurt these kids live with,” Bumke said. “It’s enough to be a high school kid, but to add to that where are you going to sleep, get a shower, wash clothes and eat.”

After Summers left the Bumkes and his housing possibilities fell through, he was once again homeless. After about three days he moved in with a co-worker.

“When I left the Bumkes I didn’t have any place lined out, so after work I just left and I slept by this pasture that I saw, and I tried that, and that didn’t work out,” Summers said.

While he lived with the Bumkes, Summers didn’t consider himself homeless. He only considered himself homeless when he was out on the street or passing the night at a 24-hour business.

His hardships began after he moved out of his grandparents’ home in a different state.

“The reason I came up here is because they couldn’t take care of me no more. It was getting [to be] too much to deal with,” Summers said. “I’m glad I came up here. I’ve made a lot of great friends — made my own family up here.”

Without close ties to his parents who live in two different states, Summers moved in with an extended relative in Montana.

The relationship between the two was tenuous and tense, according to Summers. At the time, Summers battled depression.

Since he was 18, Summers decided he was capable of navigating his own future, so he moved out.

“I was not a happy person in that house,” Summers said. “Nothing good was coming from it.”  

He said family members did try to contact him after he left, but Summers said he felt they would make assumptions about his situation.

“I basically cut off most contact with all my family,” Summers said.

Now that he has a regular place to rest his head, there is more certainty in Summers’ life. His next goal is getting a driver’s license.

When asked if he is hopeful about the future, the tone of his voice changes slightly for the first time in the conversation.

“I’m hopeful,” Summers said. “But over the past like two years it’s been really unpredictable.”

Summers is asked if he has any dreams. He pauses before answering.  

“To travel, basically. Save enough money to go to a different country,” Summers said.

“I’ve been thinking of India.”

Reporter Hilary Matheson may be reached at 758-4431 or by email at hmatheson@dailyinterlake.com.