A recent ARCH Community Housing Trust event raised nearly $900,000 in a single evening to support affordable housing for Blaine County School District staff. The event comes nine months after the BCSD Board of Trustees approved a $1 million emergency employee housing relief fund to help meet the needs of staff members dealing with rising housing expenses.
With costs of living continuing to rise, the district has partnered with ARCH to provide further assistance to its employees. Along with the money raised at the fundraiser, the ARCH-BCSD development partnership may be eligible for an additional $600,000 matching grant. The money raised at the ARCH fundraising event will be used in the first phase of the ARCH-BCSD development partnership, which will provide school district-controlled housing for staff.
“We are incredibly grateful to have such an outstanding partner in ARCH as we work to meet the housing needs of our staff members,” said Jim Foudy, BCSD superintendent. “Thanks to the success of this fundraiser, we have the funds needed to kickstart the ARCH-BCSD development partnership. We are excited to provide district-controlled housing to support and retain our valued staff members.”
Since 2005, the ARCH Community Housing Trust has developed safe, permanently affordable housing for persons of low to moderate income in Blaine County. It achieves this vision through purchasing, restoring, and building properties to provide housing for local teachers, police officers, hospital technicians, firefighters, nurses, and others who serve the community.
BCSD is pursuing a model through which the district provides land, while ARCH raises money for designing, developing, constructing, and managing staff housing at a flexible and affordable price point. Wood River High School Residential Construction Academy students will also have the opportunity to participate in all phases of the housing development.