Housing coordinator takes Helena job
Longtime city of Kalispell housing program coordinator Lynn Moon has moved to Helena to be closer to her mother in Boulder - and to a similar job in Helena.
"I keep retiring, but I never quite quit working," Moon said.
Moon, now 60, retired in 1998 after working 21 years in the Helena's Community Development Department.
Living for a short time in Portland to be with one of her two daughters, Moon was recruited to Kalispell 8 1/2 years ago by now-retired community development director Susan Moyer.
"Lynn is probably one of the finest grant writers in the state of Montana," Moyer said.
Moyer added: "She's clear. She's concise. She knows how to put the story together. … People know if she is working on a grant, it will be well-written and know it'll be well-administered."
Moon came to Kalispell supposedly for only six months to prepare four grant applications.
That evolved into two intertwined part-time jobs - housing coordinator for the city and coordinator for the nonprofit Glacier Affordable Housing Foundation. Glacier Bank created the foundations in the 1990s to help low- and middle-income families buy homes.
The combined jobs translated to full-time hours.
Moon had an almost-perfect record in obtaining sought-after housing grants and keeping them in compliance, Moyer said.
Moon helped greatly to expand government-assisted housing loans in the Flathead, bolster help for first-time home buyers, and increase the foundation's reach from four to nine counties. She was a key player in the Housing Affordability Ladder - a coalition that deals with Flathead housing problems.
The city's current community development director, Kelly Danielson, said: "You couldn't ask for a better colleague. She's so good at sharing her knowledge."
Moon said: "The greatest feeling is knowing you've had a small part helping people make decisions to better their lives."
Moon downplayed her role, saying she was merely doing her job and that volunteers deserve the greater praise.
"The ones I salute are the ones who do their own jobs, and then do what I do after their own work is done," she said.
When Moon began working with housing issues in the late 1970s, she noted that many people viewed housing as a problem that did not affect themselves personally.
Today, especially in the Flathead, a lack of affordable housing hampers businesses and the local economy.
""We can't keep kids here because they can't afford to live here. … Now it affects people across the board. People are now saying: 'This is our problem, not just those people's problem.'"
Moon's mother lives in Boulder - halfway between Helena and Butte - and Moon wants to move closer to help care for her.
On July 21, Moon will begin working at the Helena-based nonprofit Rocky Mountain Development Council - tackling roughly the same tasks as she handled in Kalispell.
Danielson said the city government is unsure whether it will keep a housing-coordinator job within the Community Development Department.
The city staff plans to talk with the City Council soon about what programs the department should emphasize.
Reporter John Stang may be reached at 758-4429 or by e-mail at jstang@dailyinterlake.com