Samaritan House Board Selects New Executive Director
After working in numerous housing stability roles at Community Action Partnership of Northwest Montana for more than 15 years, Cassidy Kipp will begin her new role at the Samaritan House in March
By Maggie Dresser
Samaritan House officials on Friday announced that Cassidy Kipp will take over as the homeless shelter’s new executive director starting on March 2, according to a news release.
Kipp joins the organization with more than 15 years of nonprofit leadership experience after serving numerous roles at Community Action Partnership of Northwest Montana (CAPNM) where she has helped provide housing and services as homelessness rises.
“Cassidy brings a unique combination of deep institutional knowledge, proven leadership, and a genuine commitment to community impact,” Samaritan House Board President Nikki Lintz said in the release. “Her extensive experience in housing development, federal funding, and collaborative systems-building makes her distinctively prepared to lead Samaritan House into its next chapter.”
Kipp’s experience includes leading federally funded housing programs, administering U.S. Department of Urban Development’s (HUD) Continuum of Care grants, overseeing a complex budget and managing a variety of programs supporting housing stability.
During the leadership transition, associate directors Morgan Winchester and Billy Greel have served as interim directors after the board in December removed long-time director Chris Krager, who had served in the role for 25 years, from his position.
The board cited “long-term stability” and the “best interests” of the nonprofit homeless shelter when the decision was announced, which came in the middle of the $16.9 million “Building Stability” expansion.
Lintz last year said tariffs had caused delays in construction materials and there was a lapse in funding after the $4 million grant through HUD’s Continuum of Care program was rescinded last spring.
As part of phase one, crews are building 18 two- and three-bedroom apartments that are planned to be priced at fixed affordable rates and subsidized under the HUD program.
The “Building Stability” project is also planned to include 15 handicap-accessible single-occupancy units and a community center for Kalispell’s veterans along with a remodel of the former armory building that currently houses administrative offices. Additional units are planned on the Samaritan House’s second campus two blocks away, which will feature an emergency shelter, transitional and permanent housing, a homeless veteran’s program, case management and a cafeteria.