said Wednesday.
The center - at 506 Toole Ave. - would serve people under the influence of alcohol, a clientele the Pov doesn't allow at its Ryman Street location. The new facility would offer services during the day for an estimated 90 to 150 people, according to Hill. The current house does not generally accommodate day use.
Hill shared the Pov's plans Wednesday with the Missoula City Council public safety and health committee during an update of the work city officials and downtown advocates are doing to curb panhandling.
Two grants are funding the new center, Hill said. The Montana Department of Public Health and Human Services provided a one-time $120,261 grant, according to the Pov. The Steele-Reese Foundation granted $133,117 toward the project.
Competition was stiff for the state agency grant, said Mary Jane Fox, community program officer for the department's addictive and mental disorders division. The Pov succeeded because of the need for the program and also because grantors believe the center will secure long-term funding, she said.
Fox also said the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration considers such drop-in centers a best-practices approach.
Hill said the Pov on Wednesday secured a lease for the western portion of the building on Toole, and is negotiating an agreement for the eastern part. She said the Pov eventually would like to purchase the building and has an option to do so.
However, she said in the meantime, the Pov will work cooperatively with the Missoula 3:16 Rescue Mission, a ministry and soup kitchen that operates in the room between the spaces the Pov plans to use.
Following the meeting, Missoula 3:16 executive director Pam Herbst told the Missoulian she wished she had been notified the Pov had finalized plans to lease the property and declined to comment. Board member Don Harbaugh said he could see challenges as well as benefits to having the drop-in center next door.
He said the Missoula 3:16 serves people who aren't sober as long as they don't cause problems, but he expected some challenges with a neighbor that caters to more of those clients.
“Any time people are under the influence, they create stress for others. That will be something we'll have to work out as we go,” Harbaugh said.
At the same time, he said he supports anything that helps homeless people, and the 3:16's clients will be able to use some of the services the Pov will be providing, such as social work and mental health care.
“I think that there's lots of room for some symbiotic relationships,” Harbaugh said.
One man having lunch Wednesday at the Missoula 3:16 said he didn't believe the Pov would actually work with drunks, but another said he appreciated that organization.
“The Pov treats us really good,” said Dale Peterson.
Hill said the Pov expects to open its second location on Toole Avenue on Aug. 1 with a variety of services, including some the nonprofit offers at its Ryman house. It will provide food, counselors, social workers, health care and AIDS tests, among other things, she said.
The director also expects to provide vocational rehabilitation and self-sufficiency classes in things such as financial management. Existing partnerships with other organizations make all those services possible, she said.
At the meeting, the project drew both praise and doubt from council members. Ward 4 Councilman Jon Wilkins offered compliments to the Poverello.
“I think the drop-in center is probably the greatest idea I've heard come down the pike in a long time,” Wilkins said.
Ward 5 Councilwoman Renee Mitchell, on the other hand, said she wasn't opposed to the plan but she also had questions. Mitchell said she wanted to know whether a new center would actually attract more of the panhandlers the city was trying to discourage. She said she felt torn between making the environment more comfortable for out-of-towners and taking care of the city's own.
Ward 5 Councilman Dick Haines also expressed concerns. He said Missoula has many transients because of the Poverello Center and wondered if more services will bring more transients.
The Missoula Police Department is playing a large role in the response to complaints about panhandling, and Capt. Marty Ludemann responded. He said solutions must be in line with the giving spirit of the Garden City.
“Missoula, Montana, has a heart as big as the state of Montana,” Ludemann said.
He also said he saw a problem with taking the view that more help meant more trouble for the city.
“If we look at it that way, then we kill what this whole town is about,” Ludemann said.
Before Hill announced the Pov's expansion, the city communications director talked with the committee about the panhandling problem.
Communications officer Ginny Merriam said the Panhandling Working Group spent many hours working on the matter after complaints arose last fall, and she thanked the members for their time. Members included a councilor, retailers, Police Department staff, mental health and human service providers and local government staff members. Among the solutions the group helped implement is an expanded and dedicated police presence downtown.
Merriam also said some support exists for tinkering with a city ordinance that governs the behaviors many downtown retailers and customers find unsavory. Ludemann said a couple of specific additions, like prohibiting people from lying on sidewalks, would help officers do their work.
A community member also weighed in on the conversation with a warning. Kate Ybarra, who has an office downtown, said the problem was complex and she wanted those engaged in the discussion to be careful when they talked about “these people, those people.”
“I don't think that we have a panhandling problem in Missoula,” Ybarra said.
Rather, she said, there are people in Missoula who have a problem with panhandling. Ybarra said she didn't believe the Pov's new center would create more panhandling or end the practice. But she offered her typical response to requests for money from downtown transients.
“My pat answer is, ‘Do you take Visa?' ”
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