For a long time, Leah Zamesnik wasn’t sure if she’d ever be able to put down roots.

“My dad was in the navy, so I grew up moving every two to three years,” said Leah. “I was living in Jackson, Wyoming, after college and got priced out.”

In 2020, Leah was working a professional job and two side jobs just to afford her rent there and decided she just couldn’t do it anymore. She and Hamish, her “ranch reject” who preferred being a family dog to herding livestock, moved to Missoula for a fresh start. The pieces seemed to fall into place, and she quickly felt at home.

The City Council approved $1.4 million on Monday for an affordable apartment complex project in the Billings Heights.

The complex will be built in a field on Sioux Lane using repurposed man camp trailer units from the Bakken oil boom in North Dakota.

Nearly four years after the Kalispell City Council approved its conditional use permit, Junegrass Place is now home to 138 low-income residences on North Meridian Road.

Homeword and GMD Development invite the community to celebrate Junegrass Place, a vibrant new rental community, on Wednesday, Oct. 15, at 3 p.m. The event will take place at 1081 North Meridian Road, Building C, in Kalispell and will feature a short program starting at 3:30 p.m., with the celebration including property tours and refreshments.

Opened this year, the Watershed Navigation Center aims to reduce homelessness and crime by connecting those in need to housing and other essential services.

A small pot of federal funding enabled the City of Missoula and its housing partners to preserve several units of affordable housing and rehabilitate a number of owner-occupied homes over the past year, according to a recent report.

A new supply of affordable housing has been created from a historic building in downtown Great Falls. Residents and civic leaders came together on Monday to commemorate the opening of Great Falls' first long-term supportive housing development, the Baatz Block Apartments.

The Baatz Block Apartments in Great Falls, once a crumbling structure, have been given a new lease on life. This historic building is now home to 25 permanent supportive housing units, a first for the city.

Executive Director Karissa shares some highlights from our busy summer, details about a few of our upcoming events and a sneak peek of our newest property, Cube @ 603 in Missoula.

The 15-year-old affordable housing units at Ouellette Place on the east side of town are in need of some major repair work. Homeword, the non-profit community housing development organization that runs Ouellette Place, has asked the City of Lewistown to support a large grant request to pay for the necessary work.

For the first time in her life, Amy Dockery has a credit score she’s proud of and savings accounts that give her peace of mind.

“I have a good credit score now,” said Amy. “I think it’s around 780 or 790. Paying off my debt when my mama passed away helped a lot—and being religious about not using my credit cards.”

Like many, Amy had a basic understanding of personal finance, but expanding that knowledge with solid budgeting skills and putting it into practice was a challenge.

My name is Keaton, and I’m a fundraising and communications intern at Homeword this summer. As a business marketing student at the University of Montana, with interests in entertainment management and digital design, I’ve learned how what I’m being taught in the classroom can be applied in a nonprofit setting at Homeword and contribute to their mission of creating safe, healthy homes and sustainable communities.

The National Housing Trust Fund: A Summary of 2020 State Projects report is an effort of the National Low Income Housing Coalition (NLIHC) to document the impact of the national Housing Trust Fund (HTF). The report summarizes how each state and the District of Columbia planned to use $323 million allocated in 2020 by the HTF. 

See page 35 to read about Homeword’s Hearthstone property.

Living independently for the first time can be challenging for many young adults, but those involved in the foster care or justice system are especially vulnerable to homelessness, according to a new report. 

Young adults aging out of foster care often have no credit or rental history and limited finances, like many 18-year-olds looking for their first apartment, said Andrea Graham, a transitional living services worker with Missoula nonprofit Youth Homes. But the youth Graham works with are sometimes dealing with past trauma and limited adult support as they look for a job and housing, she said.

Executive Director Karissa invites you to the family-friendly PaddleHeads Housing Night baseball game on July 17, plus a community bike ride from Creekside Apartments to the stadium with Missoula In Motion. Filming from the Palace Apartments display, she also spotlights the event’s e-bike raffle.

Living independently for the first time can be challenging for many young adults, but those involved in the foster care or justice system are especially vulnerable to homelessness, according to a new report. 

Young adults aging out of foster care often have no credit or rental history and limited finances, like many 18-year-olds looking for their first apartment, said Andrea Graham, a transitional living services worker with Missoula nonprofit Youth Homes. But the youth Graham works with are sometimes dealing with past trauma and limited adult support as they look for a job and housing, she said.

Incarceration, substance use, mental health issues and homelessness are inextricably intertwined, according to a new report from Missoula County and the Missoula-based housing nonprofit Homeword.

Three researchers from the University of Montana’s Rural Institute for Inclusive Communities — Dr. McKenzie Javorka, Dr. Elizabeth Sabbath and Dr. Kaitlin Fertaly — were commissioned to write the study, called "Just Home: Understanding cycles of Housing Instability and Justice Involvement in Missoula County."

Affordable housing nonprofit Homeword is working to bolster renovation efforts of the 10-story and six-story Sage and Fraser Towers that provide more than 100 affordable homes for Billings seniors and people with disabilities.

Sage Tower was built in 1974, followed by Fraser Tower in 1979. While they were both rehabilitated with the assistance of federal money in 2009 and 2006 respectively, renovations of the buildings are still needed to maintain long-term affordability.

The Just Home project in Missoula County, Montana, is part of a national program to advance community-driven efforts to address the intersection of housing instability and justice system involvement. With support from the MacArthur Foundation, the project is led by Homeword, Inc. and the Missoula County Community Justice Department. The initiative seeks to develop sustainable housing interventions that reduce incarceration and improve housing stability for populations at risk of being caught in cycles of homelessness and justice involvement.

GREAT FALLS, Mont. – The historic Baatz Block Building in downtown Great Falls is nearing completion for a new purpose: fighting homelessness. The permanent supportive housing project is set to open its doors this summer.

Joee Taylor recently toured the site, located in a 1913 building, where a new type of home is being created for those without stable housing.