Elevate Big Sky seeks partner-driven solutions for the housing crisis

Big Sky – Elevate Big Sky is announcing a request for proposals related to resident workforce and single-family housing initiatives in Big Sky, Montana. Proposals will be accepted from December 1, 2022 - December 30, 2022. The goal is to increase the housing inventory for the resident workforce based on identified needs by leveraging resources, organizations, partnerships and plans unique to the Big Sky community.

Successful projects will:

• Demonstrate community need in the form of increasing the inventory of single-family homes (for long-term rent or home ownership) for the resident workforce
• Address affordability of buying or renting single-family homes in the Big Sky Resort Area District (BSRAD) for the resident workforce
• Demonstrate a partnership with a nonprofit entity(s); multi-stakeholder commitment
• Target long-term livability with single-family housing for rent or home ownership
• Include deed restrictions that guarantee accessible, long-term single-family housing for the resident workforce in perpetuity

 
In 2022 Elevate Big Sky was launched as a community-led effort to identify and support sustainable solutions for the most pressing issues facing Big Sky today: livability, behavioral health, and the environment. This collaborative impact funding framework was created in response to the Our Big Sky Community Vision and Strategy. “We have a great sense of community. Even with the current challenges we are facing, Big Sky is a phenomenal community, and we band together when people are in need,” said John Seelye, Elevate Big Sky Committee Member.

 
Project proposals will be reviewed starting in early 2023 and efforts to coordinate with existing funding cycles of Community Foundations and BSRAD are underway. The lead organization for any submitted proposal must be a 501(c)3 nonprofit and the proposal application must list all public/private stakeholders and implementation plan/timeline. “We are at a critical juncture in Big Sky where the pressures are exceeding what the community can provide,” said Ciara Wolfe, YCCF’s Vice President for Philanthropy. “Instead of letting outside pressures steer the direction of the community we love, we are strategically partnering to develop community infrastructure necessary to maintain both the quality of life and culture that all of us fell in love with.”