Front Step Community Land Trust

Building community power, thriving neighborhoods, and affordable homes.

Our Story

Front Step Community Land Trust was born out of neighborhood organizing on the Northside of Missoula in the 1990s. Seeking to improve the working class neighborhood and struggling to get those needs met by institutions, Front Step founder Bob Oaks began building community power among Northsiders to organize and accomplish key projects to improve the health and wellbeing of neighbors.

Since our founding in 1996, Front Step (formerly North Missoula CDC) has led a series of transformative, community-driven projects that have become cornerstones of Missoula’s working-class neighborhoods. We engaged hundreds of neighbors in Neighborhood Planning efforts that guided development and infrastructure for two decades including the creation of the Northside Railroad Pedestrian Overpass which reconnected neighborhoods long divided by rail lines.

Front Step is also Montana’s first community land trust, and has grown to over 80 permanently affordable homes, ensuring working families can stay rooted in this community. ​

Missoula has changed since our beginning, but our work remains the same: building community power, thriving neighborhoods, and affordable homes. At Front Step, we open doors to one another—honoring the Missoulians who have built their lives here and making room for those still on their way.​

When Each Of Us Opens The Door, All Of Us Can Find Our Place.

Our Work

Homeownership

Own a Front Step CLT home and join a movement for lasting affordability. By bringing land into community ownership, we ensure homes and other community assets are accessible to generations to come.

Community

Join us in building a Missoula where everyone belongs through gatherings, partnerships, and advocacy for people-first policies that strengthen how we live together.

Advocacy

Fight for fair zoning, anti-displacement measures, and permanent affordability to ensure Missoula stays a place where everyone can build their future, no matter their income.

What We’re About

We demolish walls that restrict wealth to the few. We use land trusts, housing co-ops, and deed restrictions to make permanently affordable homeownership attainable for all. We push for equitable city policies and zoning changes that mend the rifts created by gentrification and displacement. We open doors to each other, honoring the Missoulians who’ve built their lives here—and making room for the ones on their way.