"Developing affordable housing and home ownership
opportunities for low and moderate income households in
the Headwaters Region."
History: The Headwaters
Housing Development Corporation (HHDC) was incorporated
on April 20, 1998 and is a subsidiary corporation of the
Headwaters Regional Development Commission (HRDC). The
HHDC is a non-profit housing development corporation with
501 (C)(3) status. The organization was created specifically
to deal with an inadequate supply of affordable housing
throughout the Region.
The HHDC and its parent organization, the HRDC, have a
great deal of experience building and selling affordable
single family houses to low and moderate income persons,
especially first-time home buyers. This experience
came as a result of the creation and implementation of
the Beltrami County Affordable Home Construction Partnership,
which began in 1994. The Beltrami County HRA contracted
with the HRDC for the staff support needed fore this effort. Initially
the partnership was created with the Northwest Technical
College-Bemidji, the Bemidji High School, and the Bemidji
Area Habitat for Humanity.
In 1999, the HRA turned this program over to the HHDC,
which has expanded its activities further into Beltrami
County as well as into other counties in the Region. The
HHDC contracts with the HRDC to provide staff assistance
in its housing development activities.
Since 1994, the HHDC has developed or managed the construction
of 51 single family houses in Bemidji, five houses in Mahnomen,
one house in Clearbrook, one house in Blackduck and one
house in Park Rapids. In addition, the HHDC currently
has four houses under construction in Bemidji, one in Akeley,
and one in Clearbrook. While most houses are built
through new construction, the HHDC has also purchased and
rehabilitated two existing houses in Bemidji, and is always
interested in pursuing new models to forward the housing
production goal set by the HRDC Board.
The HRDC’s housing production goal is to “increase
production and occupancy of affordable housing units to
20 units annually within the next three years.”
The HHDC has historically focused its efforts on the development
and sale of single family workforce housing. While
that focus remains, the organization is also pursuing new
models to help meet a variety of housing needs within the
Region. One new model is the development of supportive
housing. HHDC is working cooperatively with the Beltrami
County HRA and other organizations to develop a twenty-unity
supportive/transitional housing project in Bemidji. The
housing will be designed for long term homeless individuals
and families, and will meet basic shelter needs of persons
served, as well as provide the support services needed
in order to help ensure their success.
The HRDC provides three primary staff persons to the HHDC
to carry out its program development and implementation
activities. Tim Flathers, HRDC Community Development
Director, has been with the organization since 1983. Tim’s
primary responsibility is to work with communities in the
Region to identify their housing needs and develop new
opportunities for the HHDC. Tim was the staff person
responsible for creating and implementing the Beltrami
County HRA’s housing development projects during
its first four years.
Mary Thompson, HRDC Accounting and Administrative Director,
has been with the organization since 1992. In addition
to her accounting duties, Mary provides a variety of financial
support to the HHDC, including managing down payment assistance
programs and gap financing assistance. Mary also
plays a significant role in marketing houses built by the
HHDC.
Aaron Chirpich manages the construction activities of
the HHDC and is responsible for the current HHDC building
and development activities. Aaron’s duties
include land acquisition, working with general contractors,
managing construction projects, accessing and managing
construction and gap funds and selling the houses.
Board of Directors:
- Ray Melander, President - Hubbard County
- Dave Jaeger,
Vice-President - Mahnomen County
- John Nelson, Director
- Clearwater County
- Joe Vene, Secretary - Beltrami County
- Rick Rone, Treasurer
- Lake of the Woods County
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