Acting Mayor Mark Jantzer, city grant administrator Chris Plank and representatives of the local offices of Sens. Kevin Cramer and John Hoeven joined Minot Area Chamber EDC ambassadors in cutting the ribbon on the Broadway Circle development July 31.

The project is part of the City of Minot’s more than $74 million National Disaster Resilience Program, which provided $4.36 million for the family homeless shelter and more than $26 million for construction and rehabilitation of multi-family, affordable housing projects.

The City of Minot entered a contract with Pathfinder Services of North Dakota to operate Broadway Circle. In addition to the shelter and low- to moderate-income (LMI) apartments, Broadway Circle includes two commercial spaces and is home to the Lord’s Cupboard Food Pantry and Welcome Table.

Jacki Harasym, interim executive director for Pathfinder, said the organization will be seeking approval for a couple of contract updates at the Minot City Council’s Aug. 18 meeting before fully gearing up to open the shelter and apartments.

Jill Schramm/MDN A main living area leads to bedrooms, bathroom and closet in this unit in the Family Shelter at Broadway Circle.

“Our goal is September 1 – at least to be accepting applications for the LMI units. We have a lot of work to do in the shelter with getting supplies so that everything is set up,” Harasym said.

The shelter has six family units, of which two are disability accessible. Although some beds and dressers have been purchased, the units need considerable furnishings to be fully outfitted.

“Our families will come in with limited resources and limited supplies, so we want to make sure that they’re welcomed with a clean, complete unit,” Harasym said. “We are in need of furniture and linens, towels – everything actually.”

Pathfinder is accepting donations of new household furnishings and supplies. Organizations and businesses are encouraged to participate and sponsor units. For information on what is needed and how to donate, contact Pathfinder in Minot.

“We’d like to make them nice for the families that are coming so they feel welcomed and at home and comforted,” Harasym said. “We have families that will come in that are traumatized. We want them to feel like they are valued.”

She said a full service, wrap-around program will be available for families.

“We’ll plug them into what they need for services and we’ll get them back on their feet and provide what we can to make sure they’re moving forward,” Harasym said.

The Minot Housing Authority will be handling applications for the 17-unit LMI apartment units, which include some disability accessible units. Applicants must qualify by income.

Harasym said some units will be reserved for families moving out of the homeless shelter, in case that is an option needed to provide long-term housing.

Pathfinder also will be moving its Minot headquarters to Broadway Circle.

In addition to a restaurant that operates in the commercial space at Broadway Circle, there is a retail space open in the commercial building that Pathfinder plans to fill with a licensed childcare center, with possible preschool, for families it serves at Broadway Circle and others in Minot.

Harasym said she doesn’t expect filling any of the family shelter to take long, given the number of families currently supported in hotels at a financially taxing cost to service providers. Pathfinder already has been receiving calls for assistance, and with closure of a downtown homeless shelter last year, options have dwindled, she said.

“What we’re trying to do with this service is keep families together. We’re eliminating the separation of families, which is what has happened in the past in order to keep everybody safe,” Harasym said.

The facilities at Broadway Circle are impressive, she added.

“The quality that went into this is amazing. Minot did an amazing job. Mattson Construction did an amazing job in the planning and the quality, the security – everything,” Harasym said. “I have worked with the homeless for a few years in my career, and the hardest thing with a homeless family is the feeling of no self worth. So, being able to come into a facility of quality, with available services and available supplies, it’ll be a game changer.”