The little girl sat on the floor playing with her doll. She called it Snow White, though the doll with curly black hair shared no resemblance to the animated beauty in the Disney story.

But the girl has created her own story and today she’s lost within it. The doll’s accessories — a magic wand, a bottle and a change of clothes — provide her hours of fun. It’s not something she’s had much of these past few years, sexually abused as she was by her father.

Her mother’s story is difficult as well. Domestic violence is part of her past, and while she endured it for too long, the abuse of her daughter was the final straw.

The woman and her daughter now reside at the God’s Love Family Transitional Shelter in Downtown Helena. They are on the mend and starting anew, thanks to the support they receive from the shelter’s staff.

The girl attends kindergarten while her mother works at a secure job she’s happy to have.

“They talk with you here every week about what your goals and plans are,” said the woman, who asked that her name not be used. “They help you connect with resources. The program is open ended, which is great. A lot of times you fear you’re going to run out of time. Here, you don’t have that concern.”

Sen. Sam Kitzenberg, D-Glasgow, toured God’s Love on Monday under the tutelage of program manager Kristin Best, who is all-too-familiar with the stories that come through the shelter’s door.

Kitzenberg, the first legislator to tour the facility in years, according to the staff, took interest in the woman’s story and the needs of God’s Love and shelters like it across the state.

“It’s one of the things near and dear to my heart,” Kitzenberg said. “I heard about their successes here and I wanted to take a look. It’s nice to see what they’re doing.”

The program was established in 1999 as a short-term emergency shelter for families. Back then, the second floor was converted through a grant from HUD into several studios no larger than a modest bedroom.

Today, the facility provides long-term shelter to families and single mothers in need. Those who pass the interview process and are accepted into the program must commit for six months, although they’re welcome to stay for two years, as long as they’re progressing toward the greater goal of self-sufficiency.

“They have to be committed to changing certain aspects of their lives,” Best said. “It’s a complex issue and there are a lot of variables that contribute to why people are homeless.”

Some families are in bad situations, while others, one resident confessed, simply make bad decisions. Mental illness, domestic violence, drugs and alcohol may all be contributing factors, although each case varies by individual and circumstance.

There are no easy solutions and yet the shelter’s staff says the need for facilities like this one is only growing. Case workers here believe that methamphetamine has played a stronger hand in domestic violence, resulting in the growing number of single women turning to shelters for help.

“In 2001, when I started here, we probably had 30 people a year calling us,” said Gloria Koffler, a case manager at God’s Love. “In 2006, we had 75 people call who were turned away. That doesn’t include the 30 people who we accepted. The number of people calling us has increased.”

The calls have increased but the funding hasn’t kept pace with demand. Best, who grinned and said she’ll take money for the shelter however she can get it, recently used a small grant from the Helena Exchange Club to paint the shelter’s walls from a blinding white to a smooth and soothing beige.

“The floors need to be replaced,” she said, tapping the worn-out tiles under her toe. “We burn out a microwave every four to five months. I would love for us to have a play area outside for the kids.”

Even with an estimated budget surplus of $1 billion, Kitzenberg said getting money for Montana’s social programs hasn’t been easy.

Kitzenberg admits that he may have entered the session with his expectations set too high. He would like to fund the Children’s Health Insurance Plan at 200 percent, he said, but will likely have to settle for less. He also would like to fund and establish additional shelters across Montana, but he has yet to win that argument.

“I don’t think we have a surplus in the state of Montana,” he said. “We’ve got enough needs out there which we haven’t met.”

Martin Kidston can be reached at 447-4086, or at mkidston@helenair.com