St. James Healthcare Foundation Receives Grant for Supportive Housing

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Butte, MT - Having somewhere to lay your head at night maybe something that most people take for granted, but there are members of the Butte community who do not have a place to call home.

Thanks to a $100,000 grant awarded from the Montana Healthcare Foundation, those Butte community members with complex medical needs may be able to find the support needed to ensure consistent housing. The BSB FUSE: Butte-Silver Bow Supportive Housing Development Project is made up of a coalition of community organizations that will be working together to create a permanent supportive housing program for community members who are experiencing chronic homelessness.

“This funding is critical to complete a seamless system that leads chronically homeless people directly to permanent, supported housing,” says Action, Inc CEO Margie Seccomb. “Using evidence-based approaches that create a seamless path to permanent housing takes deep community collaboration. Now with the support of the Montana Healthcare Foundation, our community organizations can collaborate to complete our homeless service delivery system. Leading to an end of the homelessness cycle for many Butte citizens.”

The community organizations include Action, Inc., Butte-Silver Bow County, Butte Public Housing Authority, Southwest Montana Community Health Center, and St. James Healthcare. All organizations will work to identify candidates who will receive housing supported by homeless preference voucher programs, housing and mental health case management, and comprehensive health and mental health services.

“A program like this could be very helpful to members of our community who have had issues finding stable housing situations,” said Kevin Dennehy, St. James Healthcare’s VP of Strategy and Business Development. “We see this program as another way to care for the poor and vulnerable in our community.”

The grant funds will be used to train existing community agency staff and develop initial supportive housing services. Additional funding from public and private sources will ensure the availability of housing units for the program’s long-term use.

Ultimately, the project intends to improve health outcomes for the individuals served, and reduce the community-wide shared cost of providing medical, corrections, and other services to this population.