Penalizing one of the few sources of help for people living on the streets will do little to alleviate homelessness, argued supporters of the embattled Flathead Warming Center at a rally in downtown Kalispell on Thursday.

“I think there needs to be more coming together to find resources, to find a solution, instead of taking away the [conditional use permit] being the first conversation,” said Shaina Wickline, a shelter employee who joined dozens of other supporters outside the Flathead County Historic Courthouse on May 30.

The low-barrier overnight shelter on North Meridian Road has come under scrutiny from Kalispell City Council in recent weeks. The effort is spearheaded by City Councilor Chad Graham, who led a successful push last year to tighten penalties for panhandling in the municipality. 

Bolstered by complaints about the Warming Center from neighbors, Graham has accused the shelter’s leaders of misstating the facility’s impact on the surrounding neighborhood in its 2020 application for a conditional use permit to operate in the area. Council last week agreed to move forward with a hearing on the permit, which could lead to its alteration or revocation. 

In the second of two work sessions Council has held on the shelter’s permit, Graham argued the facility has increased homelessness in Kalispell.  

Homelessness has increased in the Flathead Valley in recent years with the cause often attributed by those working in the field to population growth, skyrocketing housing costs and a dearth of mental health treatment options. Others, including the Flathead County commissioners, have pointed to service organizations as attracting homeless people to the area. In a 2023 letter to the community, commissioners called on residents to stop helping homeless people and municipalities to reject any future requests to open shelters. 

“These people that are against us, they need to come to the Warming Center, meet people, see how everything is done,” said guest volunteer Christina Nelson, who attended Thursday’s rally. “Tours are free. I know because I give them.”

Nelson is homeless, a situation she was forced into after her divorce. She said she has been on a waitlist for housing for over a year. 

The Warming Center is unaffiliated with what happens out in the street, Nelson said, addressing complaints that the facility has spurred crime in the North Meridian Road corridor.  And the stereotype that all homeless individuals are addicts who don’t want to help themselves is dangerous rhetoric, she said. 

“Collective blame is not right,” Nelson said. 

Andrea Barry, who grew up in the valley, spends most winter nights at the Warming Center with her cat, Aries. Also forced into homelessness by a divorce, Barry — thanks to the center — is in the process of transitioning to full time housing. 

“It really doesn’t need to be shut down,” Barry said. “You can’t just get rid of people because they’re homeless. [Homelessness] is not just going to go away.”

Just because the shelter is a low-barrier facility doesn’t mean guests don’t have strict rules to follow, Barry said. It is important to hold people accountable, especially those causing problems outside of the shelter, she said, but that isn’t reflective of the Warming Center as a whole. 

“To turn us into criminals for something we do not have is morally wrong,” Barry said. “We’re not all bad. We’re trying really hard.”

NORTH MERIDIAN Road neighborhood residents argue that the Warming Center’s operation has made the area unsafe. Neighbors packed Council Chambers during the recent work sessions to share stories of finding human feces on lawns and break-ins at local businesses while arguing the corridor has changed since the shelter’s doors opened in 2021. 

But those concerns were interspersed with stories of recovery and success linked to the Warming Center by its employees, guests and supporters. 

The Warming Center serves 50 people a night during the colder months of the year. Without it, those people would be on the streets, looking for a place to sleep or keep warm, shelter employees argued before Council.

“We didn’t bring in the homeless population,” said Ray Young, a Warming Center employee, at Thursday’s rally. “They need help, and keeping them in the streets and in the neighborhoods is almost more of a safety issue.” 

Everyone could be one decision or tragedy away from homelessness, Young said. 

“We’re part of the solution, not the problem,” said Britta Sago, another Warming Center employee.

Rather than revoke the shelter’s conditional use permit, Sago said, the valley should focus on providing the care and infrastructure that homeless people need to get back on their feet. 

“[Our guests] are people. I call them my family, my friends,” Wickline said at the rally. “...They don’t want to be there, but there are just no resources.”

Reporter Kate Heston can be reached at kheston@dailyinterlake.com or 758-4459. 

    Britta Sago and her daughter, Lennon Seiter, show their support for the Flathead Warming Center at a rally on Thursday, May 30, 2024. Sago is an employee at the Center. (Kate Heston/Daily Inter Lake)
  

    Supporters of the Flathead Warming Center attend a rally outside of the Historic Courthouse in Kalispell on May 30, 2024 after Kalispell City Council decided to take a closer look at the Center's permit. (Kate Heston/Daily Inter Lake)
  

    Christina Nelson, a guest volunteer at the Flathead Warming Center, holds a sign at a rally near the Kalispell Historic Courthouse on May 30, 2024. (Kate Heston/Daily Inter Lake)
  

    A sign in support of the Flathead Warming Center is seen at a rally in Kalispell on May 30, 2024. (Kate Heston/Daily Inter Lake)
  

    Andrea Barry, a common guest at the Flathead Warming Center, holds a sign in support of keeping the Center open during a rally at the Historic Courthouse in Kalispell. She is in the process of getting permanent housing, thanks to the Center, she says. (Kate Heston/Daily Inter Lake)
  

    Colton Little, a student and Independent candidate for House District 5, joins community members at a rally in support of the Flathead Warming Center on May 30, 2024. (Kate Heston/Daily Inter Lake)