RAPID CITY, SD (KOTA) – Senator Mike Rounds visited Elevate Rapid City Monday morning to announce $30 million in funding to provide much-needed affordable housing to communities in the Black Hills.
The South Dakota Ellsworth Development Authority and the Black Hills Area Community Foundation have partnered with Senator Mike Rounds to establish locally managed trust funds in the following communities: Lead-Deadwood, Spearfish, Sturgis, Ellsworth, Belle Fourche, Hill City, Hot Springs, Custer and Rapid City.
Rounds said the goal of these funds is to create housing in the Black Hills and provide housing for people at Ellsworth Air Force Base as they prepare for the arrival of B-21 bombers.
“Many of these individuals do not live on base, but live near the base or somewhere in the Black Hills themselves. So when they come here, they are choosing a place where they want to live and send their children to school. But there are enlisted personnel who live either on base or off base,” Rounds explained.
The focus on supporting the entire Black Hills was a goal of all organizations involved in this project. Chris Huber, CEO of the Black Hills Area Community Foundation, says the housing construction would not be possible without the funding.
“We have already launched the Rapid City Strategic Housing Trust Fund, with six loans approved and three more in process. This will create 630 affordable housing units in Rapid City alone. Today’s funding allows us to expand this model to the Black Hills,” said Huber.
Rounds also noted that some improvements are needed in the Douglas School District and said he met with local leaders to find ways to fund school expansion projects before the bombers arrived.
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