A tidy white house and a long bunkhouse on 5th Ave. E. in Pablo offers a place to sleep and warm meals on chilly nights.

“In response to the need for the unhoused on the reservation, the Confederated Salish Kootenai Tribal Council has prioritized redevelopment of their Warming Center and are ready for the winter days,” said Patricia Hibbeler, executive director of Tribal Member Services. The original center opened three years ago and was  housed at the Ronan Indian Senior Citizen's Center. 

“We are here to keep everybody safe and warm,” said Leroy Black Jr., who oversees the Warming Center. 

The facility, which has 18 beds available opens at 5 p.m., and guests, as Black calls his clientele, must check in no later than 10 p.m. Staff members ask folks to sign in, look through any luggage to make sure there are no drugs, alcohol or firearms, and assign each person a locker.

With belongings stowed, guests take turns hitting the showers. Black and his staff have scrubs for after-shower wear so people can also wash their clothes. The Warming Center provides laundry soap and staffers operate the wash-and-dry machines.

The well-lit community room is where meals are eaten and people hang out and have access to computers, which were slated to be set up this week by the Confederated Salish and Kootenai Tribal IT department. The computers will also be utilized for Case Management services, provided by the CSKT Department of Human Resource Development, to help guests find employment and housing or to assist with other needs. 

Warming Center staff serves dinner at 6 p.m. and breakfast at 7 a.m. to overnight guests. Dinner on a recent Friday was a big pot of soup and sandwiches. Soups, chili, pasta, and casseroles are mainstays since no one knows how many folks will show up.

After laundry, showers, dinner, clean-up, and some socializing, guests migrate to the bunkhouse. It’s a long building with two rows of bunkbeds; eight on one side for women, eight on the other for men. Children may stay too, as long as they are accompanied by an adult.

The overnight staff person has an office, complete with a work computer. In the bunkhouse there’s also a community bathroom.

Since “everybody has a cell phone,” Black asked the electricians to install an outlet by each bed.

So far this year, the number of guests varies. "Five guests are the most we've had," says Black. "Other nights we had one or two guests and one night, no guests." 

People in the community have been supportive, and often volunteer to give food, according to Black. For instance, a local distributor of Prime energy drinks donated several cases of the pink cans for Black’s guests. Donations of non-perishable foods are always welcome. 

The Warming Center is now open from 5 p.m. to 8 a.m., seven days a week. This schedule may change depending on the weather, according to Black, since longer hours will be necessary if it gets really cold and nasty.

The center is open to everyone as guests, but CSKT tribal members have priority for overnight stays, according to Hibbeler.

The center’s address is 42308 5th Ave. E. in Pablo and the phone number is 406-675-2700, ext. 1190, which is answered only during hours that the center is open.

    The Warming Center in Pablo offers bunk beds and warm meals to unhoused people. (Berl Tiskus/Leader)