Bozeman homeless service prepares for housing uptick following COVID-19 regulations
BOZEMAN, Mont. — Family Promise in Bozeman says it’s anticipating a greater need for housing once the COVID-19 regulations are lifted.
“We’ve actually just shifted our timeline to expect that we’ll have an uptick of families here in a couple of months rather than right now,” said executive director Christel Chvilicek.
Chvilicek says their phones are ringing a lot more these days.
“Our calls went from probably two a week to three or four a day,” Chvilicek said.
The organization provides several services for families, including transitional housing. Their main focuses include finding child care, schools and full-time jobs for families.
Family Promise can serve four families at time and up to 16 families a year.
The organization works with 13 local churches, including St. James, to provide shelter. Volunteers spend time feeding and talking with families.
The goal is to have families into permanent housing with 90 days, but Chvilicek says last year they averaged about 71.
Chvilicek says it can be challenging making sure transitional housing spaces are ready in time for families to move in.
“For the first time this week, we actually paid for some motel rooms for families, which we haven’t really done in the past,” Chvilicek said.
However, they’ve already made long-term progress by moving two families into housing this week.
You can find more information about Family Promise here.
