NEWS RELEASE
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
CONTACT: Cory Boushee, Housing and Homelessness Senior Program Manager
email: coryb@nwmf.org
North Star Neighbors, a community land trust, has been awarded $2.97 million by Minnesota Housing to support affordable housing in Northwest Minnesota.
North Star Neighbors, a subsidiary of the Northwest Minnesota Foundation, was established as a nonprofit corporation in June. Its purpose is to create a long-term solution for affordable home ownership opportunities in Northwest Minnesota for low- to moderate-income household while addressing the disparities in homeownership for underrepresented households.
As a community land trust, North Star Neighbors creates affordable homeownership opportunities by retaining ownership of the land on which the house is located and preserving the affordability of the home for the future.
This funding will propel the first phase of work for North Star Neighbors, including four new construction homes in Thief River Falls and two new construction homes in Red Lake Falls, as well as covering the affordability gap for the purchase of six homes on the open market for qualifying homebuyers.
Construction on the new homes is expected to begin this spring, and the application process for homebuyers is expected to be launched this winter. Homebuyers must intend to live in Red Lake Nation, White Earth Nation, or one of the following counties: Beltrami, Clearwater, Hubbard, Kittson, Lake of the Woods, Mahnomen, Marshall, Norman, Pennington, Polk, Red Lake Falls, and Roseau.
The funding was announced Friday as part of Minnesota Housing’s announcement of nearly $350 million to support the preservation and construction of more than 4,700 housing units throughout Minnesota. Details on that announcement can be found at www.mnhousing.gov
The Northwest Minnesota Foundation will continue to share updates on the projects and timelines for North Star Neighbors initiatives at www.nwmf.org/news
