A unique collaboration creates safe, affordable housing in flood aftermath

Brent Ekstrom, Executive Director, CommunityWorks North Dakota

Challenge: In 2011, the city of Minot, ND, was inundated by a flood that destroyed thousands of homes. Suddenly, the already severe housing shortage became a catastrophe. With thousands of homes in need of rebuilding, how could this community ensure safe and affordable housing for its most vulnerable residents?



The energy boom in western North Dakota created many new jobs leading to a 17 percent increase in the state’s population. Housing costs skyrocketed leaving many low- and middle-income residents financially burdened or homeless. In the midst of this unprecedented growth, a flood devastated Minot destroying more than 4,100 homes. While many homeowners were able to rebuild, low-income residents were left with few housing options. Many residents and construction workers had to find shelter in campers, tents, temporary FEMA housing, relatives’ homes or in nearby rural towns.

With thousands of single- and multi-family homes in need of rebuilding, the devastation threatened to break the community. CommunityWorks North Dakota was anxious to help the city rebuild and ensure housing for its most vulnerable citizens.

Located in Mandan, 110 miles south of Minot, CommunityWorks North Dakota and its two nonprofit partners serve low- and middle-income residents across the state. We seek to remove financial barriers to homeownership and to create safe, high-quality multi-family housing. Over its 20-year history, CommunityWorks has partnered with numerous developers to remodel vacant rural schools to provide low-income housing for elderly or disabled residents, to build shelter apartments for women and their children leaving abusive relationships and to develop multi-family neighborhood housing for low and middle-income families.

Since its founding in 1995, CommunityWorks has closed 929 loans totaling more than $30 million in homeownership and multi-family investment. These loans are leveraged with more than $50 million in private sector financing for a total investment exceeding $80 million in housing for low and middle income residents across North Dakota.

In Minot, CommunityWorks developed a two-fold response to address the housing crisis. We removed barriers for single-family homeowners to finance the rebuilding of their homes, and we created new, high- quality, safe and affordable multi-family housing for low and middle-income families.

CommunityWorks partnered with MetroPlains, LLC to develop and build Minot Place Rowhomes. Located on four acres, Minot Place has 30 rental units, some of which are designed for wheelchair accessibility. The units range in size from one to three bedrooms to accommodate families with children and those caring for elderly parents. The townhomes have an open front porch and a private drive with an attached garage at the back. The complex also features a playground and a community room equipped with a kitchen. The layout of the development, the front porch design, playground and community room foster a sense of stability, community and neighborliness – qualities that had been lacking since the devastation of the flood.

The success of the Minot Place is due to a unique collaborative partnership between non-profit CommunityWorks North Dakota, for-profit MetroPlains LLC and the State of North Dakota’s Housing Incentive Fund. In addition, CommunityWorks’ members in NeighborWorks America provided access to financing from Community Housing Capital. Through these efforts, the partnership was able to reduce the cost of the project ensuring that six of the units are reserved for residents below 30 percent of average median income and the remaining 24 units for residents below 60 percent of average median income.

This project reveals how economic development and housing are strongly linked and how fostering unique relationships and creative partnerships can provide vital opportunities that would not otherwise come about. For instance, in this case, without this unusual combination of government, non-profit, and private sector financing and expertise, Minot Place would not have succeeded. And without this collaborative effort, 30 families would not have access to affordable, safe and healthy homes.