Building The Montana We Want To Live In
Author: Jacob Kuntz, Executive Director Helena Area Habitat for Humanity
Building the Montana We Want to Live in
Finding an affordable home is becoming harder every day. We can all feel it, either firsthand or by watching our friends, children, or elderly neighbors get priced out of the communities they love.
At Helena Area Habitat for Humanity, our mission is to partner with families to build homes they can afford. Since 1992, we’ve built 90 homes—each one representing a family that achieved the dream of homeownership through hard work, sweat equity, and community support.
We are proud of those successes. In 2021, we set a goal to build 30 homes each year by 2030. But with so many Montanans unable to afford housing, we must do more.
This is where Rose Hills comes in. Helena Area Habitat intends to use 250 acres in East Helena and work with partners to construct 1,500 homes, with at least 350 permanently affordable.
We know this sounds ambitious, and it is. But Rose Hills is not an out-of-state developer building luxury homes out of reach for everyday Montanans. This is your local Habitat working with local builders.
Rose Hills is designed for individuals and families at every stage of life, with cottages, townhomes, small homes, apartments, and larger family homes. With 46 acres of parks, trails, green space, a town center, and community amenities, it will be a place where people can connect. By providing homes within reach for working families, young professionals, retirees, and first-time homebuyers, Rose Hills is about more than houses. It’s about creating a community where kids can play, neighbors look out for each other, and homeownership feels attainable again.
For too long, Montana’s land and labor have been taken for granted by people who don’t care about this place. Growth is happening fast, and it often feels like the Montana we know is slipping away.
Habitat can’t undo what’s already happened, but we can do our part to build a future where working people can find and keep a home. Rose Hills is our chance to do just that—but we can’t do it alone.
Over the past two years, Habitat has hosted trolley tours to give the community an overview of Rose Hills. Earlier this year, we began holding listening sessions in East Helena—more in-depth conversations where neighbors can ask questions, share concerns, and voice their opinions. This fall, those sessions continue at Missouri River Brewing Company on October 23, Hometown Helena on September 25, and Brothers Tapworks on October 6.
We recognize that Rose Hills is an ambitious project that will significantly shape East Helena and our broader community. The neighborhood will occupy a portion of more than 2,000 acres once blighted by the American Smelting and Refining Company (ASARCO), land that has already brought new schools, housing, and businesses to East Helena. The redevelopment south of Highway 12—including Rose Hills and Prickly Pear Estates—is underway. Looking ahead, nearly 6,000 additional homes, along with new parks, schools, and businesses, are planned.
The scale of this growth makes community input essential. That’s why we invite you to join a listening session, attend a presentation, or reach out to us directly. Our goal is to ensure this transformation is guided by community voices and creates a neighborhood that truly feels like Montana.
We care about the families who make this community vibrant but can no longer afford to live here. We have a choice: sit on our hands and hope Montana goes back to the way it was, or put them to work building a Montana where everyone has a place to call home.
We choose to get to work.
Jacob Kuntz
Executive Director- Helena Area Habitat for Humanity
Editor's Note: Near East Helena on Highway 282, the Rose Hills Development is approximately four miles from Montana City.
