In a partnership with the Federal Home Loan Bank of Des Moines, Stockman Bank selected 11 organizations in Montana to receive a total of $920,000 in Competitive Affordable Housing Program Grants.
Through FHLB Des Moines’ Member Impact Fund, Stockman Bank’s donations were matched $3 to every $1 by FHLB Des Moines, which is wholly owned by its members and receives no taxpayer funding.
Among those selected was the Great Falls Development Authority, receiving $80,000, which will use the money to develop more equity in the Great Falls community to provide more accessible and affordable housing.
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GFDA Senior Vice President Jolene Schalper explained the funds will be used in two parts,
“We're really excited because they like our proposal and it has two key components - The first is an Angel Equity Investment Fund, so accredited investors are able to meet with potential housing developers or entrepreneurs who just need a little bit of extra equity in order to make the deal work. The second part of this grant is a Community Impact Fund, and this is a fund where accredited investors, foundations, businesses, and others can put money in, and then a board determines where that money goes, for equity projects again. One of the things that we're facing is that there's not enough equity in our community. We've been trying to attract some of the national housing developers to our market to help meet our needs, but really we work really well with our local developers. However, to get the scale of housing that we need in our community, we need more equity available to those developers.”
Schalper also explained that a 2021 housing assessment with Concord Group determined that in order to keep up with demand, Great Falls would need 4500 new units of housing over the next ten years, about 450 new units per year. While Great Falls has largely developed since then, the GFDA says this grant will put more money into community investment funds.
The grants were awarded to the following Montana organizations:
- Blackfeet Housing Authority: $80,000
- Chippewa Cree Housing Authority: $80,000
- Community Action Partnership of Northwest Montana: $80,000
- Great Falls Development Authority, Inc.: $80,000
- Habitat for Humanity Mid-Yellowstone Valley: $100,000
- Homeword: $80,000
- Little Shell Tribe of Chippewa Indians of Montana: $80,000
- NeighborWorks Montana: $80,000
- Gallatin County Housing Impact Fund: $100,000
- Richland County Housing Authority: $80,000
- Snowy Mountain Development Corporation: $80,000
For more on the FHLB Des Moines’ Federal Impact Fund, click here.
