Butte's unhoused list fell from 180 people to 61 in a year

Action Inc. in Butte has cut the number of people on its unhoused list from 180 a year ago to 61, chief executive Margie Seccomb told KBZK. She said the count was 195 at the peak, a large number for a city this size, and that a housing-first approach is what changed the math. The idea, as she described it, is to get someone into a stable place first and then add the other help, because the other help is hard to use without a door that locks.

One of the people that door is opening for is Henry Celli, who goes by Joe. He has lived outside in Butte for 20 years. He turns 76 on November 3, and he told the station it is time to be off the street. After a recent heart surgery he was brought to Action Inc., and the staff is lining up a home so this will be his first winter indoors in two decades. He was filling out paperwork for help with the heat bill on that new apartment. Seccomb said the agency is part of a wider push to get Butte's unhoused count to zero. Celli called the place a blessing.