Reflecting on 45 Years
Partnering with our Communities in Southwestern Montana

As Rocky Mountain Development Council celebrates 45 years of service in southwestern Montana, we honor the central role our partners play. What services we’ve been able to offer, we can credit especially to very real, creative assistance from many others.

RMDC is a nonprofit community action agency. Like our counterparts around the nation, we exist to improve the lives of community members, especially those who face poverty or isolation. We work primarily, but not solely, in Broadwater, Jefferson, and Lewis & Clark Counties.

We’re designed to be innovative and responsive–to identify needs, respond to opportunities and figure out how we can help. Over the years we’ve sheltered programs, like Helena Food Share and the Helena Indian Alliance, until they got their feet on the ground. At times we’ve hosted or joined a community conversation, like how to build better systems for people facing mental illness or homelessness. We’ve run complex federal programs, like Head Start, or packaged complicated funding to launch affordable housing projects.

But we’ve never functioned alone. Through these 45 years, we’ve been blessed with strong city, county, state and federal advisors and partners; with great nonprofit collaborations; with tremendous support from businesses; and with assistance from really committed volunteers. The list of folks working alongside us to make good things happen in our communities goes on and on.

You are a part of these stories. We don’t take you for granted. We enjoy truly exceptional partnerships, and that’s made all the difference for us and the folks we serve. Thanks for 45 good years; we look forward to more of the same.

Gene Leuwer, Executive Director, RMDC
September 2010

Although RMDC’s partnerships extend far beyond this list, current primary partners include:

City of Helena
Lewis & Clark, Broadwater, Jefferson Counties
Head Start Parents
United Way
Dennis and Phyllis Washington Foundation
Friends of Head Start
Head Start Policy Council
Mountain West Bank
School Districts in Helena, East Helena, Townsend, Whitehall
Montana Board of Housing
Montana Department of Commerce
Power Townsend
Helena Food Share
Salvation Army
Good Samaritan
God’s Love
Family Promise of Helena, Inc.
Career Training Institute
Energy Share
Public Service Commission
Montana Conservation Corps
Lowe’s
Pro-Build
NorthWestern Energy
Helena Local Consumer Advisory council
NAMI – Helena and Montana
St. Peter’s Hospital
Center for Mental Health
Montana Child and Family Services
Juvenile Probation Offices
Florence Crittenton Home & Services
AmeriCorps/VISTA
Friends of Montana Youth Homes
Tumbleweed
Corporation for National and Community Services
Montana Department of Public Health and Human Services
Montana Food Bank Network
Kleen King
Marks Miller Post & Pole