The Montana Department of Commerce on Jan. 3 announced that more than $3.3 million in federal Housing Trust Fund (HTF) and Home Investment Partnerships Program (HOME) funding has been allocated to build and rehabilitate affordable housing throughout the state. The funding package includes a $650,000 HTF grant awarded to the American Covenant Senior Housing Foundation to improve its senior facility in Bigfork, Bigfork Senior Housing. Bigfork Senior Housing outlined an array of improvements and expansions they hope to achieve by the end of the year through the federal grant.
HTF grants, distributed by the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD), provide funding to states to produce and preserve affordable housing for extremely low- and very low-income households. In order to be eligible for the grant, Bigfork Senior Housing pledged to allocate a portion of its apartments for households at or below 30% of the area’s annual median income (AMI).
According to HUD guidelines, eligible low-income households in Flathead County must make at or below $16,700 annually for an individual, $19,050 for a family of two and $23,800 for a family of four.
Gerald Fritts, executive director of Bigfork Senior Housing, said that improvements to the facility will include the installation of two solar charging stations, window insulation, heating and cooling improvements and replacements to the building’s flooring. Fritts said tenants will be required to relocate temporarily and that the project will likely be completed by the end of the year.
“It should end up feeling like a new project to the tenants,” the executive director said.
In addition to Bigfork Senior Housing, the Department of Commerce distributed HTF and HOME funds to communities in Belgrade, Butte and Helena to rehabilitate and construct affordable housing units. Individuals and families throughout the state have felt the impacts of a difficult housing market in recent years, as rapid migration to Montana has strained the state’s limited housing supply and priced out many longtime residents. Officials from the Commerce Department expressed hope that the funding would alleviate housing strains in the selected communities.
“With a housing supply shortage and inflation at a generational high, Montanans are having a harder time finding an affordable home,” Montana Housing Division Administrator Cheryl Cohen said in a Jan. 3 press release. “That’s why it’s vital that we continue to support developers who build quality, affordable, sustainable, safe housing for the folks who live and work in Montana.”