Walking into the entrance of Sunburst Village and Drop In-Center, people are greeted by colorful mural that reads, “Welcome to the Sunburst Village!” 

While these doors are open to anyone in need of assistance, the drop-in center is focused on creating a community for people with mental-health concerns.

Staff and clients refer to the drop-in center as “The Village.” 

With a snack bar called “Sunny’s,” library, art room, computer and lounge area complete with a TV, board games and Xbox, the bright and spacious Village has a home-like quality.

Located at 2282 U.S. 93 South, Kalispell, the drop-in center is part of an umbrella of mental-health care and family support services provided by the Sunburst Community Service Foundation.

The Village opened in May through a $150,000 Montana Department of Public Health and Human Services grant.

Julie Fleck, Sunburst Community Foundation director of human services and Lisa Thiel, Kalispell program supervisor for mental health, established The Village based on a program in California.

“It’s a safe place to access resources and mental health treatment,” Fleck said.

Thiel added: “When you come in here you’re anxious; you’re worried about the outside world and you just want to be somewhere safe. It just gives people a place to ‘be.’”

The Village provides an inviting place for people — who might otherwise begin isolating themselves — to socialize, according to Sunburst Village Service Coordinator Holly Singbeil.

On any weekday there are different groups where clients can do things such as make art or play games. One of the newer groups meets every Friday, according to Mandy Winegardner, Sunburst Village administrative supervisor. 

“Fridays we have a cooking and movie group,” Winegardner said. “From 12 to 1 they cook different foods and afterward they come in and watch movies from 1 to 3.”

In addition to creating community, Winegardner and Singbeil connect clients with community resources or public assistance and help them fill out applications for housing, food, jobs, health insurance or public transportation. 

“They can just walk in our door and we sit down with them and get their needs,” Winegardner said. “We try and figure out a plan to help them meet those needs, so if they come in with a concern of housing we try and connect them with housing applications and if they need housing right away we try to connect them with emergency housing.”

Peer-to-peer specialists also support people who visit The Village. These specialists often have dealt with or are currently experiencing the same issues as clients.

“They can relate a lot with people that come in whether it be because they’ve had an addiction that they’re in recovery for or if they have a mental illness they deal with,” Singbeil said. “It can be easier for them to kind of understand where those people are starting from.” 

Advocating for clients is an enormous part of the job for Winegardner and Singbeil, along with educating other organizations about what The Village provides.

“[We are] advocating for people that have no one to be a voice for them,” Singbeil said. “If you get turned away so many times, you’re not going to feel confident in asking for help and we don’t want them to walk away feeling helpless.”

Winegardner gave an example of a woman who used numerous resources in town, but because of a mental illness would “burn bridges” with the service providers. Until the woman reached mental stability, she still needed access to those resources.

“People pretty much turned their shoulder on her and she needed somebody to fight for her and that’s what we did,” Winegardner said.

All The Village’s services are free.

In October The Village served 72 people. Winegardner expects that number to increase as the weather get colder because the drop-in center serves many people who are homeless. 

“Our whole point is to help those that can’t get help anywhere else and focus on recovery,” Winegardner said.

For more information, call 756-8721.

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