BILLINGS — Princess Bigman struggled to find a stable place to live for over a year, and with five young kids to support she knew she couldn't give up.
“A lot of organizations turned me away, or they said that they could not be of any help,” Bigman said Wednesday.
She was given multiple reasons why the charitable organizations offered her little to no help.
"Either they said that myself and the many children that I have, we were a fire hazard. Shelters had said that, "Well, you're able to stay the night here if we have room, but you are unable to stay here long periods of time,'" she said. "I understand where to get, you know, a food bag and water, but, you know, safely with myself and my children, where do I go? Because I have exhausted, I guess you would say, the common places."
Bigman knew she had to find housing before winter hit.
"I was very scared because I am now possibly at the mercy of the streets," she said.
Bigman said Family Services connected her with a man named Craig Barthel who first helped her.
"He had offered his property that he just, I understand, purchased, and it is now in the workings of transitioning housing for homeless," Bigman said. "It was such a blessing. I was very relieved. We have some more stable, safe, and to meet our needs, to even shower."
With a safe place to be, she was able to keep going. She said she never gave up hope because of her kids.
"Since I had my little ones looking up to me, it's like, it is possible. Just keep going something will come forward. And luckily it did," Bigman said.
She then went to HomeFront, the city-operated affordable housing agency, and was approved for federal Section 8 subsidized housing.
"She was really at her last end. She's like, if I don't get help today, I don't know what else I'm gonna do," said Pamela Aning, HomeFront's tenancy support specialist. "She has been really looking for places and the rent was high and she had her kids, and she was just very emotional because she wanted to do better. She wanted someone to give her a chance."
Aning worked closely with Bigman and was able to get her into a home on Oct. 8 of this year.
But Bigman's family is just one of over 8,000 in the area in need of help.
"People are becoming homeless and unhoused because they can't afford their rents. They can't afford their rent increases," Patti Webster, HomeFront's CEO, said. "I think that a lot of people have more housing insecurity now than ever."
In December 2023, 7,801 people were on the waiting list with HomeFront. A year later, that number has increased to 8,096, with 3,688 people looking for a one-bedroom unit.
The organization also administers another 1,4000 housing choice vouchers to help with rent through private landlords.
"That's the first time in my 30-plus years of experience. That's the first time this ever happened. So it's not getting better," Webster said. "We need to build, and we need to build a lot more housing."
HomeFront is doing what it can to build more housing and add to the 455 units it already has, but the projects they are working on take time.
The organization will soon begin more progress on its Recycle and Reuse project that consists of using old mancamp housing to create apartment units in the Billings Heights.
Webster said other things are in the works as a result of a state law passed in 2016.
"We just received our pre-approval letter from the Governor's Office of Economic Development yesterday, the day before, and so we have issued an RFP (request for proposal) and have already entered into a contract with an agency called Liveable," Webster said. "And they'll be working this program for us. And it will be amazing. We'll be able to build some single-family homes for homeownership, for public service employees, for maybe for our employees, and for those who can be homeowners that have lower incomes to do it."
Strides to make more affordable housing options available, and to be able to help more families like Bigman's.
"Now that we are not homeless, and we are in a very secure spot, I want to start thriving my children in sports and their interests," Bigman said. "They pushed me forward, you know, saying, 'Mommy, I love you.' 'Mommy, you're doing a good job,'" Bigman said.
