An affordable housing development under construction in north Bozeman will soon be neighbors to a health clinic and family day care center.
Community Health Partners and Family Promise of Gallatin Valley broke ground on Wednesday at a site on Tschache Lane near Lowe’s Home Improvement that will house both organizations’ facilities. Community Health Partners is building a clinic for medical, dental, mental and behavioral health services, while Family Promise’s new facility will house a day care and a family services center.
“The two factors that impact a family’s finances more than anything else, (are) health care, and housing,” said Chase Rose, a fundraiser with the Bannack Group. “This is a very intentional effort. I would argue, one of the most intentional efforts in Bozeman to make a positive impact in both of those categories.”
The two facilities are being built next to an affordable housing development that will have more than 230 units. The project, which is being done by GMD Development in collaboration with the Human Resources Development Council, includes a 96-unit senior building and several other smaller buildings with family units.
GMD Development is funding a portion of the construction through a tax credit, said Christel Chvilicek, executive director of Family Promise. Both organizations still have a bit to go in their fundraising goals: Family Promise has raised just over $4 million of its $6 million goal and Community Health Partners has raised $4.6 out of $5 million needed for the project.
A fundraising campaign for the rest of the project for both organizations is underway.
Chvilicek said during the groundbreaking ceremony that a portion of the $6 million will be used for a scholarship fund to help families afford the day care.
Child care, Chvilicek said, is a major barrier for families at risk of homelessness, with limited spots spurring months-long waiting lists, and the cost rivaling that for college tuition. The daycare will be able to serve 96 kids, Chvilicek said, and will be open seven days a week with expanded hours for those who don’t work a 9-to-5 job.
“We want to ensure more families don’t have to choose between work, child care or paying their rent,” Chvilicek said.
The second floor of the Family Promise building will house family support services with case managers and space for families experiencing homeless to apply for jobs, cook, and wash clothes, Chvilicek said.
Community Health Partners CEO Lander Cooney said having the clinic next to Family Promise’s building will help their patients access more services. The two-story clinic will have 10 exam rooms, eight dental rooms, a behavioral health wing and a pharmacy.
CHP has long since outgrown their building on Bozeman and Mendenhall streets, Cooney said, so they jumped at the opportunity to build the new facility.
“Our new clinic will be a health care hub for everyone who needs access to great care, including our most vulnerable community members,” Cooney said.
Both facilities will be under construction for about a year.
