Providing Sustainable Affordable Housing in Montana

homeWORD - Missoula, Montana, United States

homeWORD created a process for affordable housing development that incorporates several core values: serves working families, community-designed, models new strategies for green building, and demonstrates sustainable methods.  This process, which we call the charrette process, is now a signature of homeWORD’s affordable housing development.

The charrette is a public design meeting where interested community members come together to brainstorm ideas for the design, site plan, development and management of homeWORD’s proposed housing.  The charrette is a two-day long event where we learn about and explore innovative strategies.

Outcomes include:  helping to meet the need for sustainable affordable rental housing; focusing on the needs of very-low and low-income renters; designing rental housing that fits the neighborhood and surrounding area; using a more participatory and interactive planning process that encourages input from individuals, groups, and stakeholders who are not usually included; developing specific criteria that will be incorporated into the project; and creating a process that can be replicated by others.

homeWORD from BACKTRACK films on Vimeo.