United to Solve Homelessness

August 2024 Update 

At United Way of Yellowstone County (UWYC), we are committed to addressing homelessness in our community through comprehensive support, resource connection, and strategic partnerships. Our efforts focus on stabilizing individuals in need, connecting them to local resources, empowering community partners, and seizing new opportunities to maximize impact. 

UWYC will use the United to Solve Homelessness initiative, real cost measures, and its other crisis stabilization initiatives, along with the generous Day 1 Families Fund grant, to be the short-term catalyst to transformational change in our community.   

In August, UWYC’s 3-year strategic plan will be approved by the Board of Directors.  In addition to establishing strategic goals and reimagining impact areas, United Way of Yellowstone County proposes to lead the community in an Aspirational Impact Goal, an inclusive call to rally around a singular focus of moving 1,000 households from barely surviving to financially thriving, through improved access to housing solutions and wraparound support. Soon we will announce our funding investment strategies. 

Recent efforts to connect and collaborate  for a thriving community in support of our unhoused neighbors: 

1. Stabilizing Persons in Need:  We provide Crisis Stabilization support to prevent crises or help individuals get back on track quickly. Thus far in 2024, we have provided $23,904 in stabilization funds.  Our efforts include: 

• Fund Distribution:  We recently announced our $300,000 Community Grant partners for 2024, which included $117,000 to local nonprofits for rental assistance, transportation support to work, and other essential services that provide a hand up to our neighbors in need. $123,000 was contributed in 2023. 

• Diversion Funds:  These specialized funds provide financial assistance to families and individuals experiencing homelessness or who are at risk of homelessness. Funds are prioritized to keep people housed or quickly get them back into stable housing.  Thus far in 2024, $10,140 has been distributed, which includes $9,890 from the Federal Home Loan Bank matching gifts program that were distributed through the Yellowstone County Continuum of Care.   

• Emergency Food and Shelter Program We coordinated the State Set Aside funds through the Emergency Food and Shelter Program, allocating $248,989 to local agencies in 2023. These funds provide essential support for shelter, rent/utility assistance, and food for those in need. 

2. Connecting Needs to Resources:  We work to help people get the support they need as soon as possible. 

• A major tool to reach this goal is Montana211 which includes a robust database with thousands of resources to support vital needs, including housing. These resources can be explored by going to www.Montana211.org or calling 211.   The largest inquiries include: Housing & Shelter, Mental Health & Addictions, and Food Insecurity.   

UWYC’s role in this vital resource includes: 

• Managing the website for Montana211.  

• Updating over 1,200 resources annually for Yellowstone County. 

• Working with statewide stakeholders to support the system and enhance operations. 

• Marketing to promote awareness and usage.  

• We also work to increase awareness of poverty issues by convening community leaders, sharing data findings, and hosting immersive activities/empathy-building exercises.  In 2024, 120 have participated in a Poverty Simulation, sensitizing community participants to the realities of poverty, in hopes of transforming their insights into action by understanding community resources.   

3. Empowering Community Partners and Nonprofits 

We strengthen our community’s homelessness response by supporting local coalition work that unites resources to more efficiently tackle this complex issue.  Specific ways we help include: 

• Backbone Support:  Along with general support and participation with many coalitions, UWYC also provides deeper “Backbone” support to the Yellowstone County Continuum of Care (CoC), a coalition focused on reducing homelessness.  

• Fiscal Agent and Grants Management:  UWYC serves as the fiscal agent for the CoC and Substance Abuse Connect, enabling them to receive grants and funding by sharing our non-profit status and providing grants management support.  

• Funding:  UWYC also recently donated $60,000 to the CoC from a matching gift.  The CoC has used funds for Diversion of homelessness and to hire a full-time coordinator. 

• Capacity Building:  We are designing a capacity building and volunteer mobilization plan for the nonprofit community which includes establishing a Yellowstone Nonprofit Center to provide our community's nonprofits with trainings, networking opportunities, information exchange, shared resources, and volunteer leadership development. 

• Data Collection and Distribution:  We help demonstrate data-driven needs and evidence-based solutions in Yellowstone County.  One way we do this is to provide volunteer support for the annual Point-in-Time count is a count of sheltered and unsheltered people experiencing homelessness on a single night in January. 

This support has helped the Yellowstone County Continuum of Care and Substance Abuse Connect achieve several major accomplishments, including: 

• Permanent Supportive Housing Plan:  The CoC has created a plan and gained commitments from major partners to develop a Permanent Supportive Housing program for chronically homeless individuals who area also high utilizers of local resources.  This program could be a lifesaving resource for individuals in need as well as reduce the burden on local services while saving tax payer money. UWYC has served as the fiscal agent and grants manager for a grant from the Montana Healthcare Foundation that supports this work.  

• Coordinated Entry System (CES):  This game changing program, coordinated by the CoC, streamlines access to supportive services for homelessness prevention and rehousing.  It unites multiple agencies around a shared intake system, assessment, and process for providing the most appropriate services to each person. UWYC serves as the fiscal agent and grants manager for funding that supports this work.  

Thank You From the CoC: 

“The Yellowstone County Continuum of Care would like to thank United Way for their generous $60,000 gift. So far with this funding the CoC has been able to divert around 20 households from homelessness and hire a full-time CoC Coordinator to manage the coalition and facilitate community-wide collaboration to reduce homelessness.” – Yellowstone County CoC  

4. New Opportunities 

UWYC has recently received two exciting opportunities to further our mission: 

• Day 1 Families Fund:  This $2.5M gift from the Bezos Foundation will support local efforts to assist families experiencing homelessness.  This one-time project will not represent a new mission area for UWYC, but rather will serve as a community-wide call to action, bringing together experts and stakeholders and using UWYC’s proven history of collaboration for collective impact.  UWYC has already taken several steps to best utilize these funds, including: 

• Convening a community session with over 75 stakeholders to explore and prioritize potential strategies. 

• Creating an advisory group of local leaders with key expertise and knowledge to make recommendations for use of funds. 

• Receiving professional guidance from Wells Fargo Bank employees to prioritize strategies.  

• Designing an Aspirational Impact Goal in our strategic plan to specifically address the number of households living below the financial survival threshold. 

• FHLB Funds:  UWYC also received $160,000 from 5 local financial institutions and the Federal Home Loan Bank of Des Moines designated to support homelessness efforts.  These funds are already making a significant impact by: 

  • Supporting the CoC’s Diversion Funds to prevent housing loss and assist individuals in regaining stable housing. 

  • Funding the hiring of a CoC Coordinator to lead diversion efforts and develop a Permanent Supportive Housing Project.