Hearing addresses housing funds

Cramped nonprofit facilities and the Flathead's lack of affordable housing dominated a Kalispell hearing Tuesday on seeking federal financial help.

"There's a definite need for housing in this area for low-income people," said Barbara Hale of Kalispell. "We've got a big population of homeless people here in Kalispell."

Supporters of Samaritan House, The Abbie Shelter for battered women, the Flathead Chemical Dependency Clinic, the Special Friends advocacy program and the Flathead County Council on Aging said their facilities are full and need to be expanded.

All this occurred at a Tuesday public hearing on what local programs should seek when applying for federal Community Development Block Grant and Home Investment Partnership money.

Kalispell and Flathead County governments plus the Glacier Affordable Housing Foundation, Northwest Montana Human Resources and the Samaritan House held the hearing.

Those bodies later will apply for federal aid - throwing support behind the proposals that are fleshed out the best.

The deadline to submit financial aid applications for government and nonprofit facilities is May. The deadline to seek federal money to support housing efforts is November.

About 20 people attended the hearing and 11 spoke. Seven mentioned affordable housing and homeless problems.

They noted that most Flathead homeless people are not transients, but families that unexpectedly hit financial hard times in a region where housing is expensive.

"A lot of our clientele are people who lost their jobs," according to a written statement from Samaritan House executive director Chris Krager. Samaritan House had to turn away 545 people in 2007.

Some speakers said there is a unfulfilled need for temporary housing for homeless and chemically dependent people to live in while they work their way out of bad situations.

Lynne Moon, who manages housing programs for the city of Kalispell, cited a recent survey of 1,751 households in north-central Kalispell.

She noted that 61 percent of the households in north-central Kalispell earned $48,750 or less annually and 32 percent earned $27,500 or less annually.

The Flathead's median annual income is $49,100 - meaning half earn above that amount and half below. Local housing experts have said that a family earning $49,000 annually can afford to buy a $150,000 house.

Houses selling for $150,000 or less are extremely rare in Flathead County.

Moon said that means 61 percent of north-central Kalispell's households are unlikely to find houses in their price range - despite a majority of those families wanting to own their own homes.

Speakers said the lack of affordable homes is affecting the work force - with a significant number of employees unable to afford homes in this area.

Susan Moyer of Kalispell pitched the concept of a community land trust in which a nonprofit organization owns land while families buy and own the houses on top of the land.

The idea is that by taking land prices out of home buying, the actual costs of the houses will decrease. Such an effort includes limiting what such a house can be resold for - keeping the home affordable for subsequent buyers.

Reporter John Stang may be reached at 758-4429 or by e-mail at jstang@dailyinterlake.com