GNDC Leads Discussion Regarding Housing
A public conversation regarding housing in northeastern Montana was held by the Great Northern Development Corp. in Wolf Point on Tuesday, June 14, in conjunction with the Montana Housing Partnership Conference. GNDC sponsored the in-person event through its partnership with NeighborWorks Montana.
Tori Matejovsky, executive director for GNDC, said to attendees that GNDC has been involved with housing since its inception.
“We’re here to do a little bit of everything for businesses,” Matejovsky said. “Businesses and housing are tied together, houses are where jobs go to sleep at night so it’s imperative to consider them jointly.”
Brianna Vine is the housing specialist at GNDC and provides homebuyer education and financial stability counseling in addition to project management for housing rehabilitation, demolition and new construction.
Vine noted the organization has been involved in housing rehabilitation projects for low-income individuals and the elderly in the communities of Wolf Point, Circle, Froid, Medicine Lake and Glasgow.
GNDC has worked with developers with new housing projects such as the Northstar apartments. Rehab projects have included the villas in Wolf Point and Culbertson.
Matejovsky is hopeful a housing study and survey can be offered in the future in order for officials to develop a more accurate picture of housing needs.
GNDC serves a six county region including Roosevelt, Valley, Daniels, Sheridan, Garfield, and McCone counties.
“We kind of lump all the northeast Montana towns, but they all have different housing needs and resources,” Matejovsky said.
She noted that housing challenges in Roosevelt County have remained the same for decades. Wolf Point features older homes and people aren’t investing in building new ones.
A possibility is working with hospitals and school districts to find more creative ways to provide housing and supportive housing resources throughout the region.
She encourages people to take part in the current economic development survey. The link is on GNDC’s Facebook page: https:// www.facebook.com/ GreatNorthernDevCorp, and on the GNDC website at www.gndc.org.
“The economic survey will help determine how important housing is to our residents,” Matejovsky said.
