Taunya Fagan Bozeman Real Estate Blog: SW Montana Homes: MLS Listings

Up to 24 homeless adults once again will have the chance to sleep in a warm place in Bozeman this winter: the Gallatin Valley Fairgrounds warming center shelter will open Friday November 25, the day after Thanksgiving, and will remain open until late March 2012," according to the Human Resource Development Center's (HRDC) CEO, Heather Grenier. The HRDC and the Greater Gallatin Homeless Action Coalition are holding a fundraiser for the center Saturday, November 19th, 2011 from 9:00 am to 6:00 pm.

According to Gloria Edwards of Bozeman's Family Promise of Gallatin Valley, offering shelter and opportunities to homeless families with children, "Family Promise has hosted homeless children and their families every single day since Jan. 1, 2010. Thirty-one homeless children from 17 separate families have received a safe, warm place to stay, nutritious home-cooked meals and been surrounded by caring staff and volunteers. Unlike city shelters that separate men and women, families stay together and each family has their own sleeping room within a church that lives out the mandate to care for the poor."

Through the month of November 2011, Recreational Equipment Incorporated (REI), 2220 Tschache Street, Bozeman, MT, will be hosting a donation bin in front of their store to benefit Family Promise of Gallatin Valley.

Montana Distric 9 Homeless Information

It's Easter time, and this year there are many more homeless families and homeless children than ever.

Learn more about homeless children by state at America's Youngest Outcasts:

• In every state in America, housing costs outpace wages.
• A family with one-full time worker earning minimum wage cannot afford the HUD established Fair
• Market Rent (FMR) for a two-bedroom apartment anywhere in the United States.
• A full-time worker earning the average renter wage cannot afford a two-bedroom apartment at the
• FMR almost anywhere in the United States.
• In the vast majority of states, the hourly wage needed to afford the rent for a two-bedroom apartment is 2-3 times the minimum wage.
• Available housing vouchers, a potential solution, meet only one-quarter of the need in America.

Also, according to CNN:

• 42 percent of homeless children in America are younger than 6.
• African-American and Native American children are disproportionately represented.
• More than 1 in 7 homeless children have moderate to severe health conditions.
• Approximately 1.16 million of homeless children today will not graduate from high school.

Thanks, and have a Blessed Easter!