Kirsten Matteson has a PHD in structural mechanics. Currently an assistant professor in the department of Civil Engineering at Montana State University in Bozeman, Kirsten is especially interested in materials with potential for positive global change. Among other projects, she has worked together with MSU students to do research on hempcrete as a novel material, looking at its use in structural engineering applications. Kirsten worked on this project in conjunction with Kirby Hancock (listen to...
May 02, 2021•52 min•Season 2Ep. 6
This episode is an interview with Heather Harp, Missoula City Council member and also Executive Director of Habitat for Humanity in Missoula. Habitat for Humanity is a nationwide organization that enables income qualifying families to better afford a new home by contributing 200 hours of their own sweat equity to the process of building it. Heather has some much needed, ambitious goals for Habitat home building in 2021, listen to our conversation to find out more!
Mar 27, 2021•58 min•Season 2Ep. 5
Jason Gutzmer is a local builder who constructed an annualized geo-solar home he calls ‘El Nido Solar’ (the Solar Nest), off an alley in the middle of Missoula. He is also a local educator and visual artist/filmmaker/anthropologist with a background spanning 20 years in permaculture design practice across 14 countries. Some projects he has worked on include taking a mobile eco village throughout Latin America, creating an eco village in Montana and working as a green educator in Indonesia. The S...
Feb 25, 2021•1 hr 58 min•Season 2Ep. 4
In the course of making ZAHP! And also starting my own project, MAP, I have spent a good deal of time investigating viable options for alternative building materials. My favorite one thus far is hempcrete, and for this reason I reached out to Kirby Hancock. Kirby is an architect working with Think Tank Architects of Bozeman, and is also the founder of a company called Transformative Ecologies. Recently Kirby collaborated with the Montana Farmer’s Union and MSU to experiment with Hempcrete, which...
Dec 20, 2020•46 min•Season 2Ep. 3
Dear Listeners, I hold close to heart the notion that truly affordable/sustainable living is tied into local, regenerative food production. Paul Wheaton is a widely known permaculture gardener, podcaster, writer, experimenter, and information spreader. He has authored a book titled: Building a Better World in Your Backyard - Instead of Being Angry at Badguys . He is also over 500 episodes into his podcast, called Homesteading and Permaculture , and you can find all the information you desire abo...
Nov 15, 2020•1 hr 42 min•Season 2Ep. 2
Dearest ZAHP! listeners, With Corona Virus showing no signs of abating around the world and the US elections just around the corner, I decided it would be a good time to start a new season of ZAHP! After 20 episodes in Season 1, I look forward to a second season filled with a bunch more timely, information filled and pertinent interviews! You probably won't be surprised to find out that as people deal with the effects of unemployment or inability to work due to Corona Virus, home prices in our t...
Oct 28, 2020•47 min•Season 2Ep. 1
In this interview, Dallas Cowboys fan Henry King was kind enough to walk me through his nearly finished, thoughtfully converted bus, soon to be home. Henry takes the time to show me every inch of his intelligently utilized space, with hidden storage, an incredible sound system, flight simulator, tub, washer and dryer, queen sized bed… everything he needs and wants in his space to feel at home. He has been working on his bus and gathering the different parts for years, and the final layout looks ...
Oct 07, 2020•1 hr 18 min•Season 1Ep. 20
Episode 19 of ZAHP is an interview with John Porterfield. He is part owner of Montana Grow, which creates a MT sourced, silicon based crop supplement called Ignimbrite, and you can find out more at ignimbrite.com . John has grown hemp in the past and contributed materials to different hemp related projects, including the work of Frances de Forrest and my own project, MAP, the Montana Attainability Project, to which he donated a hefty pile of hemp stalks and the use of his wood chipper so that I ...
Sep 19, 2020•1 hr 6 min•Season 1Ep. 19
This is an interview with Dave Glaser, President of Mofi, Julie Lapham, Mortgage Banker at Mann Mortgage, and Bre Smith, a homebuyer whose growing family has used Mofi's downpayment assistance program to purchase a home 3 times! If you have a credit score of 640 or higher and your income qualifies (below a certain range) you may very well be eligible to purchase a home with downpayment assistance. This interview is full of information but if you need more, go straight to Mofi.org! Thank you for ...
Sep 12, 2020•39 min•Season 1Ep. 18
John Runningbear has an engineering background and has been living in and working on converted busses for 30 years. He currently resides with his wife and 3 large dogs in their tri-level bus just outside Missoula while running his RV repair business, Big Dog RV Services. He has started 2 intentional communities in Wyoming and Arizona and is working on getting a 3rd going in the Missoula area. This is a 2 part interview in which we meet Nicole, a nursing student who John has helped convert her ow...
Jul 18, 2020•1 hr 41 min•Season 1Ep. 17
I recently moved to Hot Springs, MT, to begin research on a project that I am starting called MAP (the Missoula Attainability Project). I have taken an interest in hemp, and the first name that came to my ears in regards to making use of this plant was Frances DeForrest. Frances has been a nurse for 20 years and currently works from home as a triage nurse, helping people who call in from all over the country. She is also an active hemp advocate. She has a nearly completed gypsy bardo made with h...
Jun 20, 2020•43 min•Season 1Ep. 16
Amy Allison Thompson has been the Executive Director of the Poverello Center, Missoula’s homeless shelter, for 3 years. She has her BA in Psychology and Masters in Social Work, both from the University of Montana. She has an extensive background in social work, and spent many years working with the homeless and other vulnerable groups at the Pov and other locations before filling her current position. In this episode we talk about the importance to society of housing the homeless, and how the Po...
Jun 10, 2020•50 min•Season 1Ep. 15
For this 14th episode of ZAHP! I had a virtual conversation with Emily Withnall, a local Missoula writer who has conducted many housing related interviews around town, and has a personal history of growing up in poverty in northern New Mexico. She talks about it in detail in "The Snack Shack Blues", recently published in Gay Magazine. Find it at: https://gay.medium.com/the-snack-shack-blues-9b0df6f13042?source=friends_link&sk=a8fd73d331e30dda2908369f0cd54374 Another of her articles is about ...
May 20, 2020•50 min•Season 1Ep. 14
This is the 13th episode of ZAHP! Andrea Davis is the Executive Director of Homeword in Missoula, MT. Homeword is a local organization that offers the Missoula Community low cost home buyer education as well as free home buyer and financial counseling opportunities. Homeword also works hard to bring more affordable housing options to Missoula and Montana home buyers and renters in the lower income ranges. For more information, please visit homeword.org ....
May 08, 2020•59 min•Season 1Ep. 13
This 12th episode of ZAHP! is another converted bus interview with Chris Cawley. He has a construction business in Missoula called Earthwalk Environmental, and is registered with the state for construction and environmental restoration. His current project is to convert a 20 year old school bus into a beautiful, low impact mobile living unit that is almost finished! I had a wonderful time touring the bus and talking to Chris about all the work and materials he has chosen to put into it. If you w...
May 01, 2020•1 hr 10 min•Season 1Ep. 12
For this 11th episode of ZAHP! I sat down with local hip-hop and spoken word artist Tahj Kjelland. Check out the wonderful work he does with school kids across the state via his non-profit Express 2 Speak, at express2speak.org . Tahj is also a handy man who finds creative ways to be a living part of the alternative home movement. Among other things, he has a well-traveled bus called La Rana that he has been converting into a living space. Following you will hear a 2 part interview, the first rec...
Apr 27, 2020•57 min•Season 1Ep. 11
In the 10th episode of ZAHP! I met and spoke with Casey Valencia, Executive Director of MUD, the Missoula Urban Demonstration Project. We talked about how the tool library makes DIY home projects more affordable, and Casey updates me on the recent work to their shipping container spaces. Also we touch upon the future of MUD, education opportunities for the community, and how to get involved! For more information, visit mudproject.org.
Apr 13, 2020•38 min•Season 1Ep. 10
Dan Kemmis has a very impressive resume. He is originally from Eastern Montana, attended Harvard and received a Bachelor of the Arts in Government, graduating with high honors in 1968. In the 90’s he served as Mayor of Missoula, and prior to that he was the Minority Leader and Speaker of the Montana House of Representatives, a position that he left to earn a degree in law from the University of Montana. He has also authored several books exploring community and democracy, including Community and...
Apr 05, 2020•40 min•Season 1Ep. 10
In this eighth episode of ZAHP!, I visit with Laval Means (Planning Services Manager) and Aaron Wilson, Transportation Planning Manager) at Missoula's Department of Development Services. . Aaron Wilson tells us about transportation costs and how they tie into the affordable housing issue. Laval Means elaborates on long term planning for the city of Missoula and what changes are being made since Missoula signed its housing policy in June, 2019. For more information, refer to episode 1 of this pod...
Mar 20, 2020•49 min
Bob Ruby lives in Missoula and is a man of many interests. For the purposes of this episode, however, we talk about his plans for a sustainable, tiny house village that he plans to implement when the right piece of land is found in the surrounding area. Bob has many creative ideas for his tiny house village, and after listening to this episode you can contact him to find out more by searching for the 'Tiny House Village Project Missoula' page, or searching for 'Bob Squatch' on Facebook....
Mar 12, 2020•1 hr 4 min•Season 1Ep. 7
BlueLine Development ( https://bluelinedevelopment.com/ ) is the developer currently collaborating with the Missoula Housing Authority, Homeword, and other local and statewide entities to build over 400 units of affordable housing in Missoula in the next 2 years. Find more information on the 200 unit Villagio project at https://missoulahousing.org/development-projects , and by Google searching the Trinity Project, projected to add another 202 units within the next 2 years. In this interview we t...
Mar 06, 2020•44 min•Season 1Ep. 6
****Episodes 1-5 of this podcast were recorded prior to my changing hosts to Anchor FM. This podcast is no longer hosted by Podbean.*** Kaia Peterson is the Executive Director of Neighborworks Montana https://www.nwmt.org/ , an organization that works statewide to create attainable home opportunities for people whose income qualifies. In Missoula Neighborworks sponsors HUD approved home buyer education and counseling, offered locally by Homeword. Neighborworks also provides lending in the form o...
Feb 27, 2020•45 min•Season 1Ep. 5
City Council member Heidi West ended up in politics when she got involved in the cleanup of the former State Superfund Site in North Missoula. Aside from her current position as City Council member representing Ward 1, Heidi is Coordinator and Community Organizer at the NMCDC (the North Missoula Community Development Corporation, learn more at http://www.nmcdc.org/), while also maintaining a creative space at the Clay Studio, and mothering her family of 4 . In this episode she gives me her take ...
Feb 20, 2020•1 hr 12 min
For the 3rd episode of ZAHP! I met with Eran Pehan to find out more about how the housing policy signed by the city of Missoula in June, 2019, is being implemented. Eran Pehan is has been Executive Director of Missoula's Department of Housing and Community Development for the past 3 years. Prior to that she was Executive Director of the Poverello Center, Missoula's homeless shelter, for 10 years. We speak (among other things) about current affordable housing projects in Missoula, what the future...
Feb 13, 2020•52 min
Thank you for checking out the second episode of ZAHP! In this interview we take a tour of my younger brother Blake's tiny home on wheels. He has been building it over the past 3 years all by himself, and shares with us the stories and problem solving that have gone into it's creation. If you have any further questions after listening to this interview, or if you or anyone you know might like to contribute in any way to ZAHP!, please contact me, Becca, at becca4being@gmail.com.Our surprise guest...
Feb 06, 2020•55 min
This is a collection of informative interviews addressing Missoula, MT and the nation's affordable housing crisis, put together by Rebecca Kelley.
Jan 30, 2020•52 min
