Finally, A Homeless Corpse The Poverello Center Can Use!

by Travis Mateer

Does the director of the Poverello Center, Jill Bonny, know how to play politics with homeless people? Yes, I think she does, and her skills go far beyond photo-ops with Senators like Jon Tester.

In a recent Missoulian article about the “urban camping” resolution, Jill referenced a homeless person who had just died on Wednesday. Here’s how the corpse was immediately politicized by Jill Bonny:

Bonny criticized the resolution for including service providers when she said most disapprove of the new policy. She also cited a death outside the Poverello Center early Wednesday morning, which she said might have been more inhumane under the city’s new policy.

“He passed away in front of Winds of Change, and it was our staff that reported it, it was our staff that identified the body, and that location would have been in a buffer zone,” Bonny said.

Did Jill Bonny say anything last May about Glen “Harley” Stephens when he died right outside the offices of County Commissioners downtown? No, she didn’t, and NO ONE at the Pov has ever spoken to the family of Sean Stevenson, who was assaulted INSIDE the homeless shelter, then euthanized by Sheriff’s Office when they took him off life support at St. Pats.

Those homeless corpses weren’t useful like the corpse found outside Winds of Change on Wednesday, so they weren’t referenced in any conventional news sources by a director who gets a six figure salary to control narratives around homelessness.

Going even further, Jill Bonny politicized the program I launched–the Homeless Outreach Teams–when she demanded any reference be removed from the resolution:

Bonny said she opposes the new laws and requested the Pov’s Homeless Outreach Team not be included in any policy during the Wednesday hearing.

Councilors approved an amendment to remove the Homeless Outreach Team and any mention of service providers from involvement in the ordinance.

Now that Jill Bonny is using a politically expedient homeless corpse to bash a resolution she doesn’t agree with while politicizing the program I created, I’m changing my previous stance of non-interference with the Pov’s 50th anniversary celebration.

For some context, here is an old Facebook post from a time when I was a celebrated member of this organization:

Yeah, this post hits a little different 14 years later as I continue exposing the Homeless Industrial Complex in Missoula and the corpses they DO NOT want to talk about, like Sean Stevenson and Johnny Lee Perry.

If Jill Bonny is worried about what this former rock star who believes in unadulterated social justice is planning, then she is free to join her fellow influencers and their campaign to smear me into shutting up. So far that campaign has been a failure.

Am I now excited for the Pov’s 50th anniversary celebration? Yes, I am, because I’m thinking of all the fun things I can do to bring more attention to what this organization is doing to control the homeless narrative

Cool, an exhibit. I wonder if any of MY work is documented in this exhibit, because someone who spent 7 years and developed a program like the HOT program SHOULD be included, right?

If you appreciate the work I’m doing now to expose the role of my former employer in the larger issue of narrative control, then consider donating to Travis’ Impact Fund (TIF). Any little bit helps.

Thanks for reading!