Cheryl Cohen

Many of us can vividly recall our first apartment rental experiences. For me, it was a single-family home shared with three college roommates, then an upper floor in a triplex where the kitchen fan spun itself off the ceiling and crash landed on the dining room table, followed by a non-conforming daylight basement unit with mold growing on every window. These were not glamourous experiences, but they were what I could afford and what was available on the market.

Some of us have been blessed, through hard work, luck and favorable market conditions, to become first-time homebuyers. For me, it was a sweat equity short sale under the third runway easement of a large international airport necessitating over 60 cubic yards of debris removal in the first weekend. But it was our home, our garden, our sanctuary and we took pride in our amateur DIY renovation efforts.

Those of us who work in the affordable housing space have the privilege of supporting individuals and families with their first ventures in apartment leasing, transitioning to a rental home they can better afford and even witnessing the American Dream in action at the closing table as a family receives the keys to their first home.

Over the last 50 years, the Montana Board of Housing, which is administratively attached to the Montana Department of Commerce, has partnered with organizations statewide who regularly experience these inspiring moments. Imagine assisting an individual moving inside after experiencing homelessness for a decade or more, or supporting a single mom regaining custody of her little boy with a safe, affordable apartment on Christmas Eve, or helping seniors stay in their homes with a fair and reputable Reverse Annuity Mortgage loan or providing first-time homebuyer counseling to a family who works and saves for a down payment to close on their first home.

I’ve been fortunate to experience many such moments throughout my career, as have all members of the MBOH team. Each time, these moments remind me of a childhood memory. My parents, an electrician and a nurse, worked to build a new construction home for our family. My brothers and I would hang out at the job site after school (safely) while my dad ran the electrical. My mom, a music lover, asked my dad to wire surround sound speakers in various rooms of the house. The day we moved in, mom cranked the stereo with Kenny G’s saxophone music and ran through the house crying. My parents both came from humble backgrounds; it had been a long journey of saving and sacrificing to build our new home. I credit this memory and their hard work for my chosen career path.

The MBOH certainly tracks all manner of data, but it’s the human impact on Montana families and communities – which cannot be easily summed up in loan production volume or affordable rental unit counts – that drives our mission. With a safe and affordable home, families can thrive and flourish, communities become convening places for neighbors and new friendships and children retain stability in school.

With a safe and affordable home, individuals have more flexibility to take risks and pursue entrepreneurial ventures, educational attainment in children improves and overall health and well-being are enhanced. A safe, affordable home is foundational to our ability to reach our full potential; without it, the stress of stacked-up bills and difficult decisions whether to purchase food, medicine or those desperately needed new shoes for our kids monopolize our minds every minute of every day.

The MBOH’s cumulative support of first-time homebuyers includes 47,700 low-interest rate primary mortgage and down payment assistance loans, equating to nearly $3.8 billion dollars statewide. In addition to its support of Montana homebuyers, the MBOH portfolio includes over 9,500 affordable apartments and resident-owned mobile homes with long-term periods of affordability (30 to 50 years) and an in-house mortgage servicing portfolio with over 6,200 active loans. You can learn more about our history and impact on our website, which includes a slideshow video and timeline.

Perhaps you or a person you know has benefited from an MBOH loan, or you might live in an affordable apartment constructed with Housing Tax Credits allocated by our agency. And even if you don’t, you might recall a time in your life that you experienced housing instability due to a spousal separation, loss of a job or a health diagnosis that upended your entire life and finances.

Individuals and families supported by MBOH programs have experienced these and other struggles. We all need a hand up sometimes, and I’m tremendously proud that the MBOH – including our Board, staff, partners, investors, participating lenders, developers and others – could be this hand up for so many Montanans.

On June 19, 2025, Governor Gianforte signed HB 924 into law, establishing a new Montana housing trust within the broader Growth and Opportunity Trust. This legislation will provide statutory appropriations for affordable housing for the first time in Montana state history – but we won’t rest on our laurels; with your continued support, we’re rolling up our sleeves for another 50 years and beyond!

– Cheryl Cohen, MBOH Executive Director and Housing Division Administrator at the Montana Department of Commerce