High Plains Fair Housing moves forward after receiving federal funding

GRAND FORKS — The High Plains Fair Housing Center received needed federal funding last week after a delay of roughly five months, but Executive Director Michelle Rydz says there may be more challenges in the coming year. The $425,000 is the final installment of a three-year grant through the United States Department of Housing and Urban Development s Fair Housing Initiatives Program. The housing center had to furlough four of its employees about a month earlier because of the delay; three of those employees have returned, but one has found other employment. We are back up to speed, and so we are operating at nearly full capacity, Rydz said. We still obviously need to hire somebody to fill that role that went on to another organization. While High Plains — the only fair housing organization in North Dakota — has resumed operations as normal with its funding for the year secured, Rydz said the biggest concern now is how it will obtain funding in the coming years, espec