Faith in Each Other: U.S. Department of Health and Human Services Center for Faith Director Visits Idaho Falls
IDAHO FALLS, Idaho (KIFI) – Homelessness, addiction, recovery, mental health and hope touch every one of us.
U.S. Department of Health and Human Services Center for Faith Director Monty Burks visited Idaho Falls Friday to discuss how faith-based and private organizations can better serve the homeless and individuals struggling with addiction and mental health.
"For a significant amount of time, our houses of worship have responded to different addiction and support issues in the community," Burks said. "They provided housing, transportation, resources, recovery support, and other ancillary resources to support people in their most vulnerable moments.”
A federal Point-In-Time study found at least 2,128 homeless people in Idaho in 2023, but according to the National Institute of Health, most cases go unreported.
Often individuals facing homelessness or mental health crises are overwhelmed and don’t know who to turn to.
"Where are the gaps? What is working? What can we do to strengthen what's already existing? And most importantly, how can we work together as a community in ways that none of us could accomplish alone?" asked Stephanie Taylor-Thompson, Cornerstone Wellness & Recovery Chief Operating Officer, who has completely rebuilt her life after emerging from addiction and imprisonment.
The Center for Faith Director, who hails from Nashville, Tennessee, experienced his own bouts with club drugs and addiction as a young college student, before he was invited by a 60-year-old woman to a recovery meeting at a local Christian church.
He since went on to found Tennessee's Certified Recovery Congregation Initiative, which yielded 30,000 treatment referrals in seven years after providing training to more than 1,000 houses of worship.
Burks spoke at a community roundtable discussion with counselors, the Idaho Falls Rescue Mission, elected City Council members, state legislators, and law enforcement to address how the federal government can better support individuals in crisis.
"In my role, I connect our faith communities to support, provide technical assistance and also bridge gaps between our houses of worship and government," Burks said.
Today, he mentors and speaks to others with lived experience about hiring people with previous convictions, law enforcement records or addictions, and welcoming them as part of the community.
"It's important to make sure [organizations] have resources, access to people and access to support so they can support people on their own grounds, people from their own culture in their community,” Burks said.
Burks and U.S. Health and Human Services Regional Director Victoria Seaman also highlighted federal resources and tools that professionals can use to assist in their work.
"Recently, the United States Department of Health and Human Services, the Office of National Drug Control Policies and HUD released a 'Treatment-First' model tool kit. The goal is to provide treatment and resources to people as you provide housing," Burks said. "This is the type of program that ensures for long term support, and also equals development for a person while they walk the journey and creates opportunity for them to go back into the workforce, be reunited with their family, and also become a community advocate and use that experience to support other people."
The program, in tandem with the Trump Administration's "Great American Recovery Initiative", provides more than $700 million in funding for STREETS (Safety Through Recovery, Engagement, and Evidence-based Treatment and Support) and behavioral health.
"I did spend six years on the City Council in Las Vegas, so this issue of homelessness is near and dear to my heart as well," Seaman said, "and the Administration has a heart for recovery."
