Balconies of an apartment building are seen Sept. 8, 2026, in Bismarck, N.D. (Photo by Jack Dura/North Dakota Monitor)
BISMARCK, N.D. (North Dakota Monitor) – The only fair housing organization in the Dakotas has furloughed some of its staff due to the delay of a crucial federal grant.
The Grand Forks-based High Plains Fair Housing Center has been awaiting the $425,000 Fair Housing Initiatives Program grant since May. Executive Director Michelle Rydz said she and the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development were getting ready to sign the grant last week, when “for some reason they stopped,” Rydz told the North Dakota Monitor.
As a result, she has furloughed three of her eight staff. A fourth employee might be furloughed in a couple of weeks, Rydz said. The center could go for about another year with reduced staff and other grants it has, she said. She does not want to shut down.
“We’ll keep the organization going because I really believe, strongly, the Fair Housing Act is an important civil right that we all have,” Rydz said.
Furloughs had been hanging over the center as early as July 31, but Rydz said the center was able to get by on fundraising, applying for grants and reworking the budget to keep staff on. She also has worked less than full time to keep other staff on, she said.
It’s unclear when the grant might arrive. It might be a year from now, Rydz said. HUD’s public affairs office acknowledged but did not immediately respond to a Monitor email inquiry. The delay in the grant is not unique to Rydz’s organization. Others around the U.S. are experiencing the same thing, she said.
A federal lawsuit brought by the National Fair Housing Alliance and the Massachusetts Fair Housing Center seeks to stop HUD from making changes to the grant program they allege would gut funding for more than 100 fair housing groups and give “huge sums” to a handful of “favored” organizations. A judge last month granted a temporary block the challengers sought.
The $425,000 was the last installment in a previously approved three-year grant. The second-year grant ended in May, and the High Plains Fair Housing Center expected the third portion to start the next day.
The center assists people within the scope of the federal Fair Housing Act, which prohibits people from being treated differently because of a protected characteristic, including race, color, religion, national origin, sex, familial status or disability. The center investigates, mediates and resolves housing discrimination complaints, and assists with accommodations.
“We won’t have as many as staff to be able to provide that crucial advocacy service that we do,” Rydz said.
The center will have to shift to educating callers to help them advocate for themselves, she said.
In 2025, the center fielded 958 total calls, more than one-third of which related to allegations of housing discrimination. The others dealt with landlord-tenant matters or general inquiries.
The center reached 204 resolutions for clients, about half of which were done without having to file a complaint.
In the last year and a half, the center has handled about 100 calls in South Dakota, which has no related organization. The center won’t be able to help at all in South Dakota anymore, Rydz said.
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