MISSOULA — Missoula residents were gathered at Goodworks Ventures for the launch of ProHousing Missoula, a coalition in that's trying to make housing affordable for all.
With many residents in attendance, the coalition officially launched Wednesday evening — sharing its vision for the future of housing with the City of Missoula.
"The reality is that housing is the issue of our time and it touches every other issue," said Barron Peper, one of the founding members of the coalition.
Coalition members say now, more than ever, is the perfect time for residents to voice their opinions on what changes need to be made for housing.
“Missoula is going through a once-in-a-generation opportunity right now to transform the zoning,” Peper said.
“To support a vision for what Missoula can be in the face of inevitable change, and so our group came together to basically be part of that process in a thoughtful way and to invite the broader community to plug into the issue of housing and to have their needs heard," Peper told MTN.
While the event was filled with organizations like Forward Montana and the Missoula Tenants Union supporting ProHousing Missoula, Peper says this is just the beginning.
“Our strategy for community engagement, big picture, is to basically to take this issue and invite people into community conversations. That’s gonna happen through educational events. It’s gonna happen through in-person learning events and workshops. And ultimately what we wanna do is take the energy and bring it, to [the Missoula City] Council, to the mayor to staff to say this is what Missoula wants.”
Visit https://www.prohousingmissoula.org/ to stay up to date with what ProHousing Missoula is doing for the community.
