Missoula library event connects people with free help in one stop

Missoula, Mont. — A monthly event at the Missoula Public Library brought together free services for people dealing with resource insecurity in one place.

Resource Access Day, or RAD, offered guests a free lunch along with access to legal help, physical and mental health care and housing support.

Selya Avila, a community engagement specialist at the Missoula Public Library, said the event was designed to make getting help easier.

“The idea is to have one space where people can come and meet a number of needs at one time that might ordinarily take them weeks to travel around to multiple different places, which can be really hard if you maybe don't have reliable transportation or time,” said Avila.

Cara Nikolaisen, a peer support specialist at Stepping Stones, said the event helped more people reach that nonprofit's substance abuse treatment services.

“One of them, we had as many as seven people sign up. So definitely worth it. Just reaching people that might not know how to get to or might not even know [that] treatment is available to them,” said Nikolaisen.

RAD happens on the second Wednesday of every month at the Missoula Public Library.