Homeless Outreach Team & Anti-Graffiti Task Force Business Improvement District
Homeless Outreach Team
The Downtown BID provides funding for the Poverello Center’s Homeless Outreach Team (HOT). Comprised of community members and social workers, the HOT Team builds relationships with the chronically homeless population, educates the community on the complexities of homelessness, and provides a HOTline (493-7955) as an alternative to 911 for nuisance behaviors related to homelessness. In 2019 the HOT team field nearly 600 calls, had nearly 1,800 direct, face-to-face contacts with individuals, and delivered over 2,000 items of food and clothing to homeless individuals.
Anti-Graffiti Task Force
The Downtown BID also provides funding for the city’s Anti-Graffiti Task Force. As one of many crime-prevention initiatives, the Anti-Graffiti Task Force is a group of volunteers within the Missoula Police Department that focuses on cleaning or covering graffiti tags throughout the entire City of Missoula. In 2019, more than 300 graffiti tags were removed in Downtown Missoula alone. From March through June of 2020, the Task Force removed more than 800 graffiti tags in Downtown Missoula. Click here for Graffiti Prevention Resources…