It was a busy day on Friday at Zootown Church as there were dozens of people lined up before the doors even opened at 10:00 a.m. for free services to western Montana residents.

One of the most popular services was at the Missoula Housing Authority desk, where Rebecca Stancill was providing help for those seeking housing.

“We piloted a new service called Renters, Resumes, and Cover Letter,” began Stancill. “That entailed helping folks with barriers to housing in the form of a cover letter to a potential landlord addressing where it is the renter is coming from, how they’re turning their life around and they would be a good candidate for a potential rental.”

Stencill said there are success stories at every Community Connect event.

“We are meeting people for the first time hour by hour, year by year that weren’t certain or had questions they were afraid to ask,” she said. “They came here, they accessed the waiting list, or they were taken off the waiting list, or they learned about a vacancy and they secured some deposit assistance, and they were able to get into a unit.”

At the event, there were doctors and dentists available for checkups, and even two hair stylists offering free haircuts.

Organizers of the event said they were expecting between 350 and 400 people to attend the annual event.

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