RAPID CITY, S.D. – South Dakota Senator Mike Rounds met with officials from Elevate Rapid City on Monday to discuss funding that will help bring in affordable housing to Black Hills area communities.
The South Dakota Ellsworth Development Authority and the Black Hills Area Community Foundation partnered with Rounds to to establish locally-led trust funds for the communities of Lead-Deadwood, Sturgis, Spearfish, Belle Fourche, Hill City, Hot Springs, Custer, Rapid City and Ellsworth.
Rounds says the goal of the $30 million in funding is to provide options for housing across the area as they ready for the arrival of the B-21 bomber to be stationed at Ellsworth.
“A lot of these individuals will live not on base but close by the base or somewhere in the Black Hills itself. So as they come in they’ll look for where they want to live and where they want their kids to go to school. But you got enlisted personnel that may live on base or they may live off base,” Rounds explained.
The emphasis on supporting the entirety of the Black Hills was a goal of all the organizations engaged in this project. Black Hills Area Community Foundation CEO Chris Huber says the housing wouldn’t be possible without the funding.
“We’ve started the Rapid City Strategic Housing Trust Fund already and we’ve got six loans approved and three more in process. That’ll create 630 affordable housing units in Rapid City alone. This funding today allows us to expand that model across the Black Hills,” Huber said.
Rounds also noted the Douglas School District will need some improvements and said he met with local leaders to find ways to fund school expansion projects before the arrival of the bombers.
Black Hills Area Community Foundation C-E-O told Rounds the housing wouldn’t be possible without the funding.
