When Sean Patrick O’Neill moved to the Flathead Valley, he was homeless.  

The now 38-year-old from Broken Arrow, Oklahoma, lived in a transitional living facility for two years, but his struggle to secure housing has since helped him connect with and aid others in the same situation.    

Well before becoming the Flathead Warming Center’s resource manager, O’Neill graduated from the University of Kentucky with a degree in architecture. He got a job designing gardens back home, but it wasn’t long before he wanted to explore the outdoors and live amongst mountains and rivers.  

In 2012, he joined the AmeriCorps Volunteers in Service program and made the journey to the Flathead Valley. The program’s over 7,000 members serve to alleviate poverty by helping local organizations expand services, according to the program’s website.  

The recent graduate arrived without any housing lined up, and his $700 monthly AmeriCorps stipend wasn't enough to cover rent. After spending a few nights trying to sleep in his car in January, he jumped onto the first transitional housing unit that opened up at the Courtyard Apartments, run by Community Action Partnership of Northwest Montana.  

Through AmeriCorps, he made his start helping the Community Action Partnership organize Flathead Valley Project Homeless Connect events, a national movement offering key services like medical, behavioral health and housing support to those in need. 

After a year, he migrated to the Samaritan House to help organize similar services, including the Continuum of Care Program, which helps locate gaps in services and funnel government funding to local nonprofits addressing homelessness. 

As his stint in AmeriCorps ended in 2014, so did his transitional housing, which has a two-year limit. Still broke and in debt, O’Neill was left to couch surf for a few months before eventually finding a room for rent. 

During that time, he started work as a case manager for folks with developmental disabilities, disabling conditions, or mental health issues after getting inspired by his time coaching the local Special Olympics team while in AmeriCorps.  

“I was learning a lot about myself through them. I learned a lot of patience and appreciation for things,” he said.  

O’Neill worked in case management for a year at Sunburst Mental Health Services and three years at Opportunity Resources Inc.  

In 2018, he returned to the Community Action Partnership as a housing navigator.   

“And that was kind of full circle,” O’Neill said, because the local Continuum of Care Program he kickstarted was helping the local nonprofit meet requirements to receive federal grants for housing-related services like rapid re-housing, permanent supportive housing and homeless prevention programs.  

He eventually rose in the ranks to housing director, where he stayed for four years.  

O’Neill moved to the Flathead Warming Center in December 2024 to more directly help homeless individuals find housing and sustain it.  

“I kind of thought that we were struggling as a community to get people to the appropriate housing that would help them be able to maintain it long-term. We were just kind of taking what was first available instead of maybe what was the right choice or the right circumstance,” he said.  

As a case manager for the Warming Center, O’Neill said his goal is to turn mountains into molehills — turning seemingly impossible tasks, like securing housing, into smaller, more attainable goals.  

Whether it's setting up an appointment with a primary care provider, enrolling in Medicaid, or even getting a haircut, O’Neill helps guide individuals toward finding housing. 

“So, making sure that people know that the supports are there in place and the resources are available for whenever they’re ready,” he said.  

Securing a house is one challenge, but sustaining it is another, O’Neill said. Finding the appropriate housing that someone can continue to afford is “like threading a needle."  

The individual’s circumstance must be taken into account when searching for the right type of housing, whether it’s a group home, apartment with supportive services, or inpatient treatment, he said.  

Approaching people with empathy and understanding is also important to O’Neill, and his own struggle to secure housing has helped him toward that goal. “I’ve been scared like that. I’ve struggled to worry about where I was going to sleep,” he said.   

O’Neill said he’s found his calling.  

“I feel like this is one of the places I can truly guide people to where they need to be and then hopefully that’ll lead them to a higher quality of life,” he said.   

Reporter Jack Underhill can be reached at 758-4407 or [email protected].