Salish and Kootenai Housing Authority celebrates new affordable homes

Affordable housing has been hard to come by in Western Montana lately.

However, an initiative by the Salish and Kootenai Housing Authority (SKHA) has brought nine new homes to Pablo at an accessible price.

Around a decade ago, former SKHA Director Bob Gauthier bought a 20-acre parcel of land from the Ashley Family.

He then donated it to the Confederated Salish and Kootenai Tribes to be specifically used for housing for tribal members.

Nine homes have been built by Indigenous-owned construction company R and R Productions.

They were funded by an Indian Housing Block Grant through the American Rescue Plan Act.

The new tenants purchased the homes — named in honor of Gauthier — after graduating from the Flathead Finance Program.

The new Gauthier Homesites residents were celebrated with a ribbon-cutting ceremony on Tuesday, Aug. 13, 2024.

"Without everyone doing their part, pulling their share of the load, we couldn't be where we are today, SKHA executive director Jody Cahoon Perez shared. "And then I wanted to have the home buyers also come up so that they could recognize and be honored to all of the work we're doing was for them — for them to raise their families in these homes, for them to have the stability that they need, for them to have their own home."

The homes won't be the last of the bunch built as the SKHA is on the way to finishing 47 homes for Tribal members.

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