Good morning, it’s JoVonne here with your dose of Helena This Week. School is back in session, and we have an update on the water issues affecting Helena Public Schools.  For our top story, though, we dove back into the city’s lack of a low-barrier homeless shelter and heard from Emi ly Frazier, who explained to me a potential solution that she and other folks have been working on. Read more below.  But first, a weather preview ☀️ Residents can expect a slight cooldown this week, beginning with a Monday high of 73 degrees, according to National Weather Service meteorologist Matt Ludwig. Folks can expect some showers Tuesday and Wednesday. Tuesday’s high will peak at 77 degrees, and Wednesday will see a slight dip with a high of 73. Overnight lows will hover in the low 50s.  As summer winds down and the colder months approach, it’s hard to forget how those without a secure home manage.   It’s a concern shared by Emily Frazier, executive director of the Helena Area Community Foundation, who leads the Collective Capacity Cohort, a group of six area organizations that work with Helena’s unhoused population.  The goal of creating the cohort is to eliminate siloed problem-solving, identify gaps in services and try to address the issues contributing to Helena’s growing homelessness crisis, according to Frazier.  “As we’ve mapped the system, one thing has become increasingly clear: Helena does not have a true low-barrier emergency shelter,” Frazier said in an email to me last week. “But I’m not sure that’s widely understood.” Over the past couple of years, I’ve seen and covered several projects and attempts by community partners to establish shelters, but none were true low-barrier refuges, and most were emergency locations meant only to be temporary. Every resource in town that assists in getting people off the streets has some condition, caveat or other criteria that are core to that organization’s mission but are also unintentionally problematic.   God’s Love, Helena’s best-known and oldest shelter, but not part of the cohort, changed who it serves last winter by turning away those who are neither sober nor employed. Prior to that change, and compared with other organizations, God’s Love had been widely recognized as the city’s only low-barrier resource, but it is no longer, according to David Miller, whose family has run the shelter for the last 40 years.  But Frazier said the common misconception that Helena already has a low-barrier shelter in God’s Love contributes to the problem.  For Frazier, God’s Love’s changes to its services cause confusion in the community about where people can actually go for shelter this winter, no matter their circumstances. So, what would be the solution?  “We need to be dreaming bigger,” Frazier said. Instead of chipping away at the larger problem, maybe it’s time for Helena to go all in, Frazier explained, meaning the Helena community should invest in creating a shelter accessible to anyone in need of a place to go and large enough to accommodate those numbers. Additionally, that shelter would need to include spaces for resources that assist unhoused folks, such as mental health support, affordable and attainable housing and addiction counseling.  But is it feasible? Well, Bozeman’s shelter, Homeward Point, seems to be a prime example of what Fraizer is describing, with about 50% of its year-round shelter funding coming from private donors, businesses, foundations and individuals, according to its 2025 annual report.  United Way of the Lewis and Clark Area’s Community Impact Coordinator Jeff Busher and others involved with the cohort recently toured Bozeman’s shelter.  “ Some takeaways that were helpful to me were that their entire process took 15 years to make that remarkable new facility open,” Buscher said.  He added that the shelter’s location and cooperation with community partners played key roles in Bozeman’s success. Because Bozeman’s shelter is away from downtown, there was an incentive from local business owners to help financially support the project.  “ When businesses are downtown [and] are dealing with unsheltered folks, the idea for them to have a shelter that was not immediately downtown proved to be very helpful in their fundraising process,” Buscher said. Buscher said he is optimistic about replicating what Bozeman has accomplished and that it will take both private and public funding to create a sustainable, permanent shelter.  Frazier said that accomplishing that goal in Helena will take the whole community. “Our community is not without wealth,” Frazier said. ”Our community is not without supportive people. I do think that one of the things that makes me feel like we’re gonna get somewhere this time is just that you see this bubbling up in so many different places where so many people are like, ‘We have to do something.’” Eye on Helena 👀 Credit: Joshua Paul Wow, the Capitol is looking quite different these days. My partner and I were driving back to my apartment last week and decided to take Montana Avenue, which gave us the perfect opportunity to see the scaffolding surrounding the Capitol up close. We then turned onto Sixth Avenue, and he snapped this picture. He said it reminded him of something you would see in big cities, not in Montana. I agree, it’s pretty impressive.  Have a cool pic you want to share? Send it in to [email protected]!  Public Notice 🧐 Forever chemicals detected at another school building ℹ️ Last week, Helena Public Schools announced that per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances, PFAS, were detected in the well at Rossiter Elementary School after the Montana Department of Environmental Quality sampled the water. The district installed specialized water filtration systems at water fountains and filling stations to remove the PFAS. Earlier this summer, DEQ also detected PFAS at Jim Darcy. 🗓️ HPSD announced the news on Wednesday, Aug. 26.📍 A well site at Rossiter Elementary 🔗 Read more about PFAS here.  The county health department and coalition help bring awareness to overdoses ℹ️ The Lewis and Clark Public Health Department and its Strong Roots Coalition are partnering to help honor those who’ve died from drug overdose by hosting a resource connection event for the International Overdose Awareness Day. The coalition, which works in substance misuse and prevention in the county, will lead the event and provide participants and affected families with resources, including Naloxone, overdose education and prevention materials. 🗓️ Monday, Aug. 31⏰ From 3 p.m. to 5 p.m.📍 Lewis and Clark Public Library Multiple street closures are anticipated this week and next ℹ️ The city will begin working on three asphalt projects this week, closing several portions of the road between Prospect and 11th avenues. On-street parking is prohibited in the work zone, and any car parked during the maintenance work will be towed, according to a city press release. Residents can expect some delays while commuting in the area during these dates.  🗓️Wednesday, Sept. 2. 📍North Lambert Street 🗓️Thursday, Sept. 3. 📍North Hannaford Street🗓️Thursday, Sept. 8. 📍North Roberts Street⏰ 7 a.m. to 5 p.m. Helena Happenings 🗓️ Outdoor events: And just like that, we are approaching Septemberfest once again. This year’s theme: Gulch Goes Galactic. The weekend of Sept. 11 through Sept. 13, join Helenans for several family events, including a 1K fun run for a cause, a balloon and sculpture fest, and, let’s not forget, the iconic soapbox race down the Sixth Avenue hill. To register for the derby or to check out a more detailed lineup of the weekend, visit the Septemberfest website.  Arts Culture: The Holter Museum of Art will be hosting its 2nd annual “Rock the Block” fundraising event Sunday, Sept. 20, from 11 a.m. to 4 p.m. The block party will take place at the museum and will feature art booths from local artists, live music, hands-on activities, food trucks and more. Rock the Block is open to the public, and proceeds and donations will go towards the museum’s general fund. The post Can Helena provide a true, low-barrier shelter? appeared first on Montana Free Press. ...read more read less