No one should be homeless in Billings, Montana much less children, seniors and disabled individuals, but unfortunately that is the reality. There are at least 600 homeless individuals in Billings on any given day. Nearly 2,400 people experience homelessness in Billings each year with a total cost for their service exceeding $54 million annually.

Billings Mayor’s Committee on Homelessness was formed in 2006 to address the need to end chronic homelessness. In the fall of 2009, the Committee adopted Welcome Home Billings, a 10-year plan designed to increase overall collaborative efforts and resources to assist the homeless in our community. The Committee’s focus is to partner with local organizations and community members in a pursuit to reduce the number of homeless persons in Billings, reduce the risk of homelessness and create the tools people in poverty need to build sustainable futures.

In order to maintain momentum for this initiative, in 2009, the City of Billings formed an AmeriCorps VISTA project known as Billings Metro VISTA Project. AmeriCorps VISTA (Volunteers In Service To America) members work with passion and commitment to mobilize local resources and give people in poverty the tools they need to help themselves. VISTA members create or expand community-based programs, services and systems that prevent and intervene in homelessness and help individuals improve their lives for the long term.

• Billings Area Resource Network (BARN) - The goal of this project is to expand BARN membership and to build sustainable capacity for this organization's efforts including facilitation of and resource generation for the BARN's primary annual event, Project Homeless Connect, a one-day, one-stop event that offers a wide-variety of free services to Billings homeless and near-homeless community members.
• Community Garden Food Security Program - The goal of this project is to help people improve their lives and the community through establishing a network of community gardens and raising awareness of healthy local food systems.
• ELEVATE BILLINGS - The ELEVATE BILLINGS initiative is a movement to increase the number of businesses incorporating social enterprise concepts into the workplace in order to increase job opportunities for disadvantaged citizens.
• Fair Housing Project - VISTA resources will aid in developing and implementing a sustainable strategic plan that bolsters membership, collaboration and capacity of the Community Housing Resource Board (CHRB) and addresses community outreach and awareness and fund development with the ultimate goal of achieving fair and equal opportunity for all in the search for a place to call home.
• Financial Stability Partnership - The goal of this VISTA position is to support and expand strategies of United Way’s Financial Stability Partnership of Yellowstone County. The Partnership is a coalition of local organizations and businesses convened by United Way. FSP actively promotes community awareness of Earned Income Tax Credits and other tax benefits and provides free income tax preparation through VITA (Volunteer Income Tax Assistance) sites in Yellowstone County for the past three years.
• The HUB Project - Assist the HUB to identify the needs of its clients, staff and facility and develop and implement a strategic plan to determine available resources to meet those needs including the possibility of a fund / business development.