Billings Nonprofits and Charities

Angie Cook, the founder of "Help for Homeless Pets" has worked hard for many years to create a shelter and take in numerous pets needing assistance. She has spayed/neutered so many. I have been a rescue in Cody, WY (3 Dog Rescue - 501c3) who has solicited their help in placing those that I cannot place and also have sent many adopters in the Bighorn basin who cannot find small breed dogs to their facility. "Help for Homeless Pets" has struggled for years with a primitive piece meal facility and done miracles with what little they have. I give them kudos for all their hard work and help to save these animals lives.

Family Service is amazing! They have helped me have food on my table so my children and I never had to go hungry!

Jaclyn James dba J A & J Ventures Made in Montana, holiday theme gifts, for seniors. <br>An enchanting way to entertain the the elderly, is to donate to their holiday joys. With my small gifting company, we try to help their celebrations be bright and cheerful. <br>MIM products of resin, seasonal donations welcomed for those who would want to share the cheer by donating to the cause. <br>I'm a small company in business for 8 years , formerly, Pieces of Time Boutique. I have changed the motive to a service utility company, All my gifts are hand made! And new!

I really never realized all that the YWCA does. So by sharing I feel they will get wider and greater acknowledgement.

I worked for Northern Plains back in the 1970s, when it was a farmer-rancher coalition concerned with strip mining, power plants and mineral development generally in Eastern Montana. It had huge power and moral force in those days, due to the unusual composition of its membership (mostly very conservative rural people). Today, NPRC is basically just another conservation group, made up largely of older, very liberal people and very few folks from agriculture. And it gets into political correctness sometimes, which I think is a real distraction. NPRC does some good work now, but it is a mere shadow of its former self.

Today I was so delighted to receive the book, Sleep Tight, Sleepy Bears. It as given to me at the Yellowstone Family Dental office. I love this author and the illustrations. I have a great granddaughter with a birthday this month. This will be a wonderful gift. I so admire your attempts to encourage parents to read to their childrlen. Kudos to you and your important work in our community.<br>Rosalie Foster

Billings food bank has the rudest supervisor and executive director! I just went through a horrible divorce and am a single mom now. I had some community service to do and they told me they didnt have time for me because of my 7 year old school schedule. I have also heard complaints on how rude the supervisor is to people in need of food boxes. She literally is one of the worst people I have ever met. I feel so sorry for the people that work their or do community service there! These people need to lose their job! Won't work with single moms or anybody that's having a hard time. Filling a complaint. I sure hope this is heard!!!!

LIFTT in Billings is an amazing resource in southeastern Montana. The Director, and the staff, are available, and eager, to provide support and opportunities for people with disabilities to live with independence, dignity, and pride.

I was a client of yap and it was a good nonprofit had good things to do for the clients but the bord members there was to many people and River stone had a lot of members on the bord and there was a lot of conflict of interest and some of the groups that they had was a joke and since yap closed every thing is still screwed up there was a lot of back standing to many chiefs not enough Indian's and in some ways I am glad yap closed

I am a new volunteer with YRPA. The organization has very dedicated volunteers, who are connected to the community for manpower and funds. The mission is excellent and as followed, will provide the area with a wonderful natural asset for all to enjoy. <br>The organization could use more volunteers, not only for projects, but also to be groomed as future leaders. Our natural lands depend on organizations like this.

Who doesn't have an hour a week to give to a young boy or girl struggling. I volunteered as a Big for three years, spent time every week or every other week with my little. We would take in the art museum, the park, skating, ice cream or doing an art project, simple stuff. Even though we were only "matched" for three years, I am positive it made a world of difference for her. I know it did for me! Be a Big!

I became a board member to the Billings Community Foundation 1.5 years ago. At that time, I barely knew what a community foundation was. Since that time, I have developed a profound respect for these foundations and what they provide to their community. The BCF serves Eastern Montana, a land of great beauty, few people, and significant poverty. Yellowstone County Montana has as many or more non-profits per capita than any city in the U.S. Through a grants program, we assist a number of local non-profits each year. We work to assist non-profits in fundraising and improved organization. We assist in wealth management and legacy giving. <br>Our members are involved in the pulse of the region with their time and expertise and money.

Amazing program. My son was 8 years old when we were able to participate with this program. Last spring we started with the Equestrian program they offer. My kid cried and freaked out the first time we went. Afterwards the instructor came up to me and set up a goal program to get Owen involved. After one full month session she had my son HOOKED. Attended this fall session this year. He is still hooked and now going to try the SKI program in the spring. He is so excited to be able to do what other kids do. I am new to the handicap community here and so encourage families to get involved and support such an amazing program.

Zonta International is a global organization that enhances the status of women around the world. The local clubs, however, also improve the lives of local women. The Zonta Club of Billings gives women the opportunity to serve the community by participating in hands-on projects. Most recently, I participated in a project with the Women's and Family Shelter. Club members tied blankets with the women in the shelter and helped mentor the women while making blankets for domestic violence victims. A club member and woman from the shelter work together on two blankets. One blanket is given to the Billings Police Dept. to give to victims when responding to domestic violence calls. The other blanket is given to the woman in the shelter. It has been a fun and rewarding project.

i started volunteering this year as a part of my college class and i was required to go only once but i have decided to return once a week. this experience was a real eye opener i really enjoyed spending time with the kids and the teachers who were very caring and open to answer any question i had going into the teaching field.

I think St Vincents is the only hospital that, while you are still paying on a bill, because you can't pay the full amount or what they WANT you to pay, they turn the bill over to collections. They won't work with you and if they don't like what you can afford to pay they are very rude and disrespectful. I do not like St V's any more and do not go to them unless there are no other choices.

I had been a 15 year donor, 5 year volunteer at RMC. I taught school for 18 years, been an entrepenuer, etc. For the past 3 years I studied RMC through public records, RMC publications, interviews, etc. I am outraged that the Board will not follow their own by-laws having been in non-compliance with their term limits, conflicts of interest, and never did a required search for a new president in 2005. They changed their by-laws in 2010 and now there are no term limits! They have engaged in risky investments and lost on credit rate swaps. The IRS 990s show many payoffs to former employees since Pres Mace took over in Oct 2005. He was the one who said he invented the "key card" (not true), calls himself the "Miracle Man" in RMC publications, ended up in jail in Indiana for punching the developer of his townhouse in 2007, recently was in a lawsuit because of abusive behavior to develpment director. Board members have been aware of his anger since Dec 2005 and have even acknowledged his anger problem in the Billings Gazette. Pres mace personally refused to five me even the names of the Board members in 2010! The current names were not available anywhere...secret??? I am sad for the college because the leadership lacks institutional integrity. I am not the only FORMER disgruntled donor....we were in the process of a MAJOR gift!

This organization does an exceptional job with its functional expenses. I am impressed.

Northern Plains is the only conservation group in Montana that truly works in rural areas on natural resource and ag issues. Northern Plains has been around for almost 40 years now and it takes a successful well-run organization to last that long. The people engaged in this organization are far from your typical environmentalists and many are 3 and 4th generation Montanans. Also, this group is truly grassroots and is entirely member-run. <br> <br>I highly recommend supporting Northern Plains and have been very satisfied in working with them.

I know it sounds cliché, but 2011 truly did start off with a bang. Several of them in fact in the form of shootings in Tucson, AZ. As Americans we were all so saddened by these events words were inadequate in capturing our collective feelings of grief. For me however, a kind of miracle occurred. It just so happened that I had been invited to attend a concert at the Alberta Bair Theater just one week later on January 14th. This concert was the magical pairing of Christopher O’Reiley and Matt Haimovitz. <br>The reason I use the term “magical” is not just because these two angels of their instruments, the piano and cello, respectively, brought music to the composers’ music to life in ways that I believe even they never knew was possible but they didn’t it without even having met one another until three days prior to their performance together. Their magic was also evidenced in their ability to inhabit the visions of an eclectic group of composers that spanned Bach to Radiohead, and they did it with such perfect precision that the audience was brought to their feet several times. We were ecstatic, enthralled, and amazed. Tears were shed, hands ached from being clapped so much, even the very air seemed sweeter. <br>As a native New Yorker, the Alberta Bair Theater has offered me 15 years of quality enjoyment, relief from stress, and pleasure. Lately, however, the ABT has surpassed itself in providing an escape from some of the harshness of life that only live performance can. It reminds us of what unadulterated human talent and hard work is like in real life and in real time face to face with real people. Thank you ABT, for the joy you bring to Billings and to me. <br>

I have known the people at St. Vincent de Paul in Billings for seven years now. I have always known them to be caring and welcoming to all who come to them in need. They provide many types of assistance including food, rent and utility assistance, and representative payee services. They work with all kinds of people, from families and individuals who lose jobs and need to reach out for assistance, to men and women who are chronically homeless due to mental illness. They folks at SVDP have extraordinary patience and compassion and are known in Billings as the place to go when no one else, even other community service agencies, can help. St. Vincent de Paul also does a tremendous amount of work with very limited resources. I once asked an accountant I know who specializes in auditing nonprofits to look over SVDP's public financial statements, and he said that he has only seen a few organizations that produce as much "bang for the buck" as SVDP does. They operate a thrift store which covers all overhead for the charity office which means that 100% of all donations are distributed directly to those in need. I have given much time and money to St. Vincent de Paul over the years, always with complete confidence that it is being put to good use.