The History of the RHC
Officially launching in early 2023, the Regional Housing Coalition (RHC) is a product of years of data collection, community input, and analysis. The origin of the RHC dates back to One Valley’s inaugural A Seat at the Table event in 2018. After extensive research, planning, and development, today, the RHC is playing a pivotal role in driving transformative collective change in Gallatin County’s housing landscape.
Let’s go back in time and explore the journey that got us here.
Regional Housing Coalition Timeline
October 25, 2018 - One Valley’s inaugural A Seat at the Table initiative
In communities across the region, thousands of Gallatin County residents came together in small groups to discuss how to collaboratively build and maintain strong, safe, and dynamic communities. Conversations were guided by 3 key questions:
What do you love most about your community?
What are the most pressing challenges in your community?
What are your ideas for making your community better?
May 2019 - A Seat at the Table 2018 Report released
The stories and data from the A Seat at the Table conversations were collected and compiled into the comprehensive A Seat at the Table 2018 Report featuring the priorities and concerns of our community. The results clearly highlighted housing as a priority, with 75% of participants identifying affordable housing as the most pressing challenge in our community.
August 2021 - Gallatin County Regional Housing Study released
In partnership with Future West, One Valley released the Gallatin County Regional Housing Study. Based on data from public sources along with primary research, the study highlighted the escalating costs of housing to purchase, the county-wide housing shortage, and how the costs of housing are not in alignment with wage growth.
October 2021 - One Valley hosts the second A Seat at The Table initiative focused specifically on housing
Informed by extensive research and community input, One Valley hosted our second A Seat at the Table initiative with a slightly different goal. This time, conversations were intentionally designed to catalyze the region to communicate, collaborate, and develop coordinated solutions to the housing needs in our region. The three guiding questions were:
Based on your experiences with housing in our community, what are your thoughts and ideas about how housing issues could be addressed?
What are you willing to do to support these initiatives/ideas?
What roles can different groups play in addressing different parts of the problem?
April 2022 - A Seat at The Table 2021 Report Released
The 2021 A Seat at the Table Report documented the stories and ideas of Gallatin County community members about addressing housing availability and affordability issues. The report highlighted the complexities of housing challenges and solutions while also highlighting a shared desire for cooperation and coordination among diverse partners to support the identification and implementation of solutions.
December 2022 - One Valley hosted the Regional Housing Coalition kick-off meeting
After months of preparation and strategic membership recruitment, a diverse group of community partners came together for a virtual informational session about the Regional Housing Coalition. The One Valley team shared our vision for the initiative, goals, history, and more in preparation for the first quarterly meeting, which would take place in early 2023.