People sleeping at the Johnson Street Temporary Emergency Shelter now have access to new bathroom and shower facilities after the City of Missoula and private partners built a “modular” bathhouse building for the space.
Officials from the Missoula Redevelopment Agency, the Missoula Economic Partnership, and the Poverello Center called the new facilities “a big win” during an unveiling on Thursday.
“The biggest thing that I hear from (the homeless) is how nice they are and how special they feel that we are valuing them enough to make this,” said Jill Bonny, the executive director of the Poverello Center, which also runs the Johnson Street Shelter.
The space has several bathrooms and two showers that are available year-round.
The site previously used port-a-potties, which Bonny said did not meet health department standards. The new bathrooms are also ADA compliant. Bonny said since the project came online this month, the impact has been major.
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The Poverello Center’s Executive Director Jill Bonny talks about the experiences of people who have used the new restrooms and showers at the Johnson Street Shelter on Thursday, July 11, 2024.
“We had one gentlemen who came and as soon as he went to access the restroom, he saw how nice they were and he got extremely emotional and just said, ‘I can’t believe we have something so nice to use,'” Bonny said. “Another individual took a shower and said ‘this is the best shower I have had in years.’
The project was funded with $500,000 in tax increment financing from the Missoula Redevelopment Agency. Missoula Economic Partnership also raised $239,000.
Contractor Dave Edgell donated his time as the project manager for construction. Other in-kind donations came from Home Architects and Builders, Morrison Maierle Engineering, Taylor Timber, and Montana Excavating.
Grant Kier, president and CEO of the Missoula Economic Partnership, said the project came together after hearing about homeless people with jobs struggling to get a shower while they were at the shelter.
“For people to show up every day and try to do better for their lives, they need the basic services of toilets and showers and probably a lot more, frankly,” Kier said.
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