| Homeword Newsletter
January 1, 2025 |
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It was a year of celebration as Homeword turned 30 years old in 2024! As highlighted in our Annual Report, we celebrated three decades of steadfast commitment to education and home affordability. Our 30-year legacy is just the beginning, and it serves as the foundation for the future we are building together—one that ensures every Montanan has a place to call home, not just for today, but for the next 30 years and beyond.
This milestone has also provided us with an opportunity to reaffirm our commitment to the future and to plan for the lasting legacy we aim to leave. Looking ahead to 2025, we are excited about the opportunities before us: -
We are proud to have been funded by the John D. and Katherine T. MacArthur Foundation, in partnership with the Missoula County Community Justice Department, for the Safety and Justice Challenge Just Home project. We are eager to work together to create a housing intervention to break the links between housing instability and incarceration.
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Adjacent to Blue Heron Place and Maple Street Flats, the Watershed Navigation Center will fully open in 2025. Partnership Health Center will offer medical and behavioral health services, tenancy support and a range of other essential services to the Missoula area. The County Community Justice Department will provide pretrial support and legal information for people navigating justice involvement-related transitions.
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We plan to expand our project development team by adding a third project manager. This will ensure we have the capacity to keep up with development and document processes and systems for training, succession planning and organizational stability. Keep an eye out for this position opening soon!
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Our HomeOwnership Center (HOC) welcomed Alexander Ramsing as our new homebuyer educator in 2024. We’re excited about his ongoing training and development as he takes the helm of the homebuyer education program. The HOC team remains dedicated to providing financial and homebuyer education, counseling and direct support for current homeowners.
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As we head into the biennial Montana legislature, we look forward to engaging with legislators from across the state to encourage additional funding allocations for housing initiatives. Homeword actively participates with the Montana Housing Coalition to meet with legislators during the interim, and we plan to continue that engagement during the session.
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We received over $845,000 in local, state and federal funding this year, and our asset management team will put it to work making necessary improvements to our portfolio of properties.
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In the first quarter, rehabilitation of our Creekside Apartments in Missoula will begin. This work will address the individual needs of each of the 161 apartment homes while addressing critical external improvements. The first 41 homes are scheduled to be completed by Dec. 31, 2025.
- Construction on Junegrass Place, 138 homes in Kalispell, will be completed this year.
- In Great Falls, construction of the Baatz Block Apartments, 25 permanent supportive homes for people experiencing chronic homelessness, will be completed in the first half of 2025 and is scheduled to be fully leased by July.
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As the developer for HomeFront (formerly the Housing Authority of Billings), we will begin construction on LB Lofts in Billings and the rehabilitation of Laurel Gardens in Laurel, Montana.
None of this would be possible without your support. Over the past 30 years, your generosity has helped us create 1,621 homes people can afford across the state. You have also helped us empower over 20,500 participants through our homebuyer and financial education programs.
The work ahead is more complex and critical and critical than ever, and we couldn't do it without you. Thank you for being an integral part of our journey. Together, we are making a lasting impact, and you can help by donating today.
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Alissa's Homebuyer Success Story
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Alissa Anderson, a wildlife technician, spent years living a seasonal, transient lifestyle before buying a house in Columbia Falls.
“I lived out of my car for seven years,” said Alissa. “Then I did grad school and was able to find year-round employment.”
After graduate school Alissa lived in Missoula. Paying more than 30% of her monthly income on rent, she found it hard to make ends meet. It made sense to Alissa to explore the option of buying a home so that she could begin investing the money she was paying in rent into a home instead.
“It always seemed like this really daunting, big, scary thing. Personally, I liked taking the class in person. Having that community support is nice.”
In 2023, Alissa registered for an in-person Get Ready for HomeOwnership class with Homeword, getting to know people in class with similar goals and reconnect with former classmates she hadn’t seen since she was an undergraduate student a decade earlier. |
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We know that connecting with legislators in between sessions is important. When they are in the thick of the legislative session, we make sure they have heard from us about priorities and know we are a resource for them. It's critical for us to continue to advocate for funding for safe, healthy homes Montanans can afford.
To prepare for the upcoming 2025 legislative session, we have been actively participating with the Montana Housing Coalition to meet with legislators during the interim. During the summer, we conducted a tour of our Billings properties for Yellowstone County legislators, we and recently met with Senator Daines’ staff at Baatz Block Apartments in Great Falls. In addition, we participated in conversations with area legislators in Missoula and Flathead Counties to discuss our work across the state and the priorities the Montana Housing Coalition has listed for the 2025 legislature.
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Watch a Recording of Our State of the Organization
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At our 2024 State of the Organization talk on Tuesday, Dec. 3, we shared our updates and accomplishments, including: -
LB Lofts – 101 new homes we're developing with HomeFront in Billings that will provide safety and security for hundreds of Montanans
- Laurel Gardens Rehabilitation – 30 homes dedicated to seniors and people living with disabilities in Laurel, Montana
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Just Home Project – Our plans to address the cycle of homelessness and incarceration in our community in partnership with Missoula County through the MacArthur Foundation's Safety and Justice Challenge work
We also shared the latest updates on property improvements, our HomeOwnership Center programs and more! |
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It's our pleasure to welcome Alex Ramsing back to the Homeword team! Alex was our landlord liaison and taught our RentWise class from 2019 to 2022. He returned to Homeword at the beginning of December 2024 to be our next homebuyer educator. Using his previous experience at Homeword and in banking and lending, Alex will soon begin providing homeownership counseling and teaching our homebuyer education class. We couldn't have asked for a better gift this holiday season than to have Alex on the team again.
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We want to take a moment to express our heartfelt gratitude to our donors for their unwavering support during the end-of-year campaign. Through your generosity, we continue our mission of creating homes people can afford and empowering them with the knowledge and tools to thrive. Together, we’re building stronger communities—one person, one family, one class and one home at a time. Thank you for your dedication to lasting change. |
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Nk̓ʷúwils Solidarity Program
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Homeword’s board of directors and staff recently heard a presentation from one of the co-founders of the Nk̓ʷúwilš Solidarity Program, a new effort at the Salish and Kootenai Housing Authority. Its mission envisions a future of right relationship on the traditional homelands of the Séliš, Ql̓ispé and Ksanka peoples, where right relationship means living in harmony with the land, with each other, with Spirit and with ourselves. We invite you to learn more by visiting the program's website.
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We offer a full range of services to help you get ready to buy a home, learn how to avoid foreclosure or manage your money better so you can reach your financial goals. |
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Do you have a great experience as a Homeword resident or class participant that you'd like to share? We want to hear from you!
Share your story and be entered to win a $100 gift certificate for Home ReSource.
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Homeword in the Headlines
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Special Thanks to Our Generous Partners |
Upcoming Events and Classes
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Homeword uses sustainable methods to strengthen Montana communities by teaching homebuyer education and financial skill building and creating safe, healthy homes people can afford. |
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20,500+
Montanans empowered through our Regional HomeOwnership Center |
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1,621 Safe, healthy homes Montanans can afford |
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1,000+ Program participants empowered last year |
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Our Contact Information
Homeword
1535 Liberty Lane, Suite 116A
Missoula, MT 59808
(406) 532-4663
http://www.homeword.org
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