HELENA — God’s Love shelter in Helena is changing winter operations for the remaining months of 2025. The change will impact who is allowed into the shelter during October, November and December.
This year, they are asking people show proof of working toward addiction recovery and mental health help before they are allowed emergency shelter.
“We have been coordinating for about eight or nine months with PureView, sending them down there.” God’s Love director David Miller said. “Show us a drug test, show us that you’re getting something medically done for your mental health, or even your physical health, show us. The ones that have been have been getting in here.”
(Watch the video for more on how God's Love is adjusting its operations this winter.)
In the past, God’s Love has opened their doors for emergency shelter from Oct. 1 to April 1 for anyone who has not been violent inside the facility. Miller said, according to data he has collected over the past seven years, emergency shelter at God’s Love is least utilized in October, November and December. He said the change in requirements for shelter in October, November and December is meant to encourage people to get help.
“We have not given up on the chronic homeless at all,” Miller said. “But, we feel that with the escalation of the drug addiction and the mental illness—and some of these people we’ve known for 20 years, they’ve suffered that long—there needs to be some changes, and the hope is that the burden wouldn’t be totally on God’s Love for the next 20 to 30 years.”
During the busiest times, Miller said God’s Love can have as many as 50 people sleeping on the floor for emergency shelter. In recent years, he said they have also seen a rise in concerning behavior among those seeking emergency shelter.
“We had all kinds of fights, we had toilets being broken, I mean it was thousands and thousands of dollars in damage being done by the addicts,” Miller said. “It was an unhealthy environment because if they couldn’t find a bathroom to use, they just went on the floor.”
Winter emergency shelter is just one of the services God’s Love provides, and Miller said the individuals with problematic behavior are a small percentage of who God’s Love works with.
“Ninety-five percent of our crowd is absolutely wonderful, they could be your dad, your mom, your brother, your sister,” Miller said.
Right now, Miller said God’s Love is housing about 60 people, including 13 children, facing a variety of challenges, including homelessness, from disabled veterans to families.
The changes to winter emergency shelter currently only impacts October, November and December, Miller said the situation will be reevaluated for the new year.
