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HRDC thanks Livingston URA for emergency-warming support; agency hears plan to convene stakeholders for sustainable winter solution
Summary
HRDC's emergency housing director briefed the URA on use of prior support for the Livingston warming shelter, reported guest counts and said HRDC will convene stakeholders to design a more sustainable approach for future winters.
Brian Geier, emergency and support housing director for HRDC, told the Livingston Urban Renewal Agency the agency’s prior funding helped keep the local warming shelter open through March and covered staff salaries for the final month of operation.
"We averaged during that time, 10 guests. Our busiest night, we had 17 guests come in. We are a 12 bed shelter," Geier said, explaining that URA funding allowed the shelter to operate through the end of the season while HRDC raised other funds for non-personnel costs.
Geier said HRDC submitted an invoice that covers salaries and fringe for March; fundraising and community contributions covered space and maintenance costs. He told agency members HRDC will convene a stakeholder meeting to explore options for a more durable, sustainable approach that could include partnerships with churches, dedicated transportation to the Bozeman shelter, or targeted hotel-voucher programs.
HRDC staff cautioned that hotel-voucher programs can create unintended demand; Geier said some people experiencing homelessness in Park County have highly varied housing situations — couch surfing, RVs, non-heated vehicles — and not all prefer congregate shelter settings. He said the new shelter being built in Bozeman could help if reliable transport and return-to-Livingston options are available.
Agency members encouraged HRDC to include city and county frontline staff, health and social-service partners, and other local stakeholders in the planning meeting. Geier said the goal is to design a more budget-stable model so HRDC will not need repeated emergency requests to the URA each winter.
The URA did not take a formal funding vote on a new multi-year approach at the meeting but thanked HRDC for the work and asked staff to participate in forthcoming stakeholder discussions.
