Long road leads homeless Missoula veteran back into housing
The Missoula Current and the City of Missoula’s Built for Zero program and its partners are collaborating on a monthly series of stories, “Housing Veterans: Serving Those Who Served.” Watch for the Current’s stories on the 11th of each month through Nov. 11, Veterans Day.
Martin Kidston
(Missoula Current) When an increase in rent forced him out of his Tacoma apartment, Daryll Bradshaw set his sights on Montana in hopes of a fresh start.
The U.S. Air Force veteran arrived in Missoula with a friend in 2023 and found a place to live at an extended stay motel on Brooks Street. It was comfortable enough but as fate would have it, his friend moved away, leaving Bradshaw unable to pay the monthly rent.
“With the seasonal rates, I just couldn't do it anymore,” he said. “And most other places want your income to be twice the rent.”
Bradshaw joined the military in 1990, following his brother's path into service. But unlike his brother, who had joined the Army, Bradshaw opted for the Air Force after realizing that his job at McDonald's wasn't a long-term solution.
Over the next seven years, Bradshaw heeded a superior's advice to “see the world on Uncle Sam's dime.” As a result, he served two years in Korea and another in Germany, working as a supply specialist.
“I tell people I flew a desk,” he said, grinning.
Path toward homelessness
But leaving the service placed Bradshaw on a trajectory that would land him in Missoula. After the departure of his roommate, he soon found himself homeless and living at the Poverello.
“The Poverello worked out okay for me. It wasn't bad,” he said. “At least I had some place.”
Upon arriving at the shelter, Bradshaw initially stayed in the overflow room. While it took time, he met with the shelter's VA representative who placed him into the Veterans Shelter Program
Doing so enabled Bradshaw to move from overflow into the shelter's general population, where he enjoyed an assigned bed. The program had other perks including three meals a day, locker access and group activities.
“You get the same bed every night,” Bradshaw said. “You're allowed to stay inside the Poverello when it's closed. You can use the veteran day room with the TV.”
With a place to rest and a job, Bradshaw was able to save a small sum of money, at least until someone through an air conditioning unit through the windshield of his car outside the shelter.
The money he saved went toward a new windshield, not an apartment as planned.
“Since I was working already, I was bringing in decent money. I had even saved up a couple times,” he said. “I had to use the money I saved to get the windshield replaced.”
A path toward housing
Bradshaw's run of bad luck continued when he developed cellulitis in right leg. It forced him into the hospital and, at the advice of the doctor, he stayed two weeks. But soon, his luck would change for the better.
The Poverello's Housing Montana Heroes program provides transitional housing and collaboration between the shelter and the VA. In the program, veterans are assigned double-occupancy rooms, laundry, transportation assistance and a small payment.
Bradshaw entered the program after being released from the hospital. A year later, he received an appointment with Volunteers of America and qualified for a federal HUDVASH housing voucher.
Dylan Barbash, the city's Built for Zero specialist, said the work connected Bradshaw to several different resources, which all played a hand in getting him into permanent housing. But advocates can't rely on the vouchers alone.
“Recent community efforts have focused on reducing veteran houselessness, which has increased utilization of these HUDVASH vouchers, leaving fewer vouchers available in Missoula and across the state,” said Barbash. “The limited number of these vouchers will cause increased reliance on flexible funding, such as the Veteran Housing Fund at United Way of Missoula County.”
To date, the local “housing sprint” has reduced veteran homelessness by roughly 49% over the last three years. When the program started, the city had 96 actively homeless veterans, including Bradshaw. By January of this year, however, that figure had been reduced to 49 individuals.
For Bradshaw, the work of advocates proved life changing.
“It's nice just to come in,” he said of his new apartment. “You don't have to worry about disturbing anyone, or if they're digging into my food. It's better than I would have taken on my own.”
Securely housed, Bradshaw now volunteers at the Adult & Teen Challenge thrift store and receives minimum wage though a Goodwill training program for people over the age of 55.
While his plans aren't yet firm, he looks to land a job that pays a living wage. With the help of family, he also received his personal items from an old Tacoma storage unit.
“I'm kind of fine where I'm at,” Bradshaw said of his current situation. “It's nice, especially since I have all my stuff with me. I think this is where I'm supposed to be. It's why things turned out like they did. Everything just fell into place.”
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