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 11^th of each month through Nov. 11, Veterans Day.

Martin Kidston

(Missoula Current) Jason Howard settled into his new apartment on a smokey Missoula day, his Marine Corps memorabilia lining a makeshift shelf, along with a television.

The apartment is sparsely decorated but cool, and it marks a big step forward for a man who fell on hard times and is still working through the consequences of his actions.

“I slept on the floor for the first three nights,” he said after moving in. “I don't know why that was.”

Howard spent three years in the Marines working vehicle maintenance at Camp Pendleton – a job that had him painting tanks and deuces. Like many young men, the Marine Corps spoke to his adventurous side and represented a service that stood above the others.

But for some, the Corps' mystic can quickly fade once reality sets in. The dusty streets of Camp Pendleton left him wanting more.

“It's all I ever wanted to do,” he said. “My uncles were in the Marines. I thought they were cool. The baddest bastards on the planet. I got in and thought, 'What did I do?'”

After his service ended in the early 1990s, Howard's options weren't as clear, but he kept moving forward, earning his commercial driver's license and driving trucks. When that grew monotonous, he took a job operating a crane for Kaiser Aluminum in Spokane.

At the time, he said, they stockpiled the product on the warehouse floor. But demand for aluminum began to slip and as it did, the company released Howard and several other employees.

“From there I hit job to job until I got to North Dakota driving a truck for the oil fields,” he said. “I worked out there for several years and had my own trucking company.”

Howard said he ran two trucks in partnership with another driver. One winter day when he was checking for water in the oil tank, he slipped and fell off the vehicle. When he landed, he broke his back.

His partner found him hours later lying on the ground. The nearly crippling accident marked the beginning of what Howard described as a long slide – one that would eventually render him homeless and in trouble with the law.

“Nobody would hire me with a broken back,” Howard said. “Then I got in trouble.”

If you want to help reduce veteran houselessness please donate to the Veteran Housing Fund via the United Way of Missoula County. If you're a landlord or property management company and would like to help, reach out to Dylan Barbash at barbashd@ci.missoula.mt.us”

That trouble came in the form of a DUI while living in Arlee. The consequences took everything. He lost his place to stay, his vehicle and nearly everything else. By 2025, he found himself living at the Poverello.

While it was his only option, he soon found that it wasn't an ideal situation.

“That's an experience in itself. You don't want to tell people you're from there because you get the sigma that you're nobody, you're homeless, you're dirty,” he said. “The mental health issue down there is rough. Then you mix it with drugs and alcohol.”

But for a guy down on his luck, his time in the service would pay off. His veteran status earned him a spot in the Housing Montana Heroes program – a program operated by the Poverello that connects homeless vets to the services they need to get back on their feet.

There, Howard received a case manager and was connected to Volunteers of America and VA healthcare. He stayed in the program for roughly eight months and began a search for housing with the support of program advocates.

But given his recent past, his rental application was denied several times.

“It was the DUI. I thought also that being from the Poverello, you put that address down. I don't blame them,” he said. “But once you get the balling rolling, you're good to go. You have to do some footwork. It's frustrating, but it can be done.”

When the prospect for housing came along, Howard was skeptical, thinking it was something that would never happen. With help from advocates, he finally secured a place near services in Missoula.

The Super Stop sits a block away, along with Subway, Dominos and the bus stop. While his apartment is sparsely decorated, he received a starter kit that included a bed and some pots and pans. A volunteer advocate bought him the television.

Now, with his living situation resolved, Howard will focus on recovery and starting school to become a peer supporter who offers crisis intervention.

“I'm an alcoholic and I've called them when I wasn't feeling right. They've helped me out and I think it's a real good thing,” he said. “They also want me to be a mentor for Veterans Court. That's a good program in itself. They really help you out.”

The services that aided Howard aren't limitless and some rely on community support, including donations to the Veteran Housing Fund at the United Way of Missoula County and landlords willing to help.

“We need private landlords and property management companies that are willing to work with houseless veterans," said Dylan Barbash, Missoula's Built for Zero specialist. "We also need donations to the Veteran Housing Fund.”

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