A new nonprofit in Bozeman wants to help people with reliable vehicles, housing and life coaching.
Greater Impact has been “in the works” for the past six years, but has officially had a nonprofit designation for about six months, said Executive Director John Paszkiet. In that time, he said, the group has fixed cars, given cars away and helped people who were close to being evicted from their homes, among other things.
Paszkiet said Greater Impact donated about three cars to families in need during the week leading up to Christmas Day.
The organization is divided in three teams: automotive, housing and life coaching. Each of the teams, he said, tries to help out individuals in their area of expertise like giving out firewood to heat homes and providing guidance to resources they might not know are available.
Paszkiet said before the organization gained nonprofit status, it was serving the community and noticed that those areas were where people needed the most help.
“To make the impact that we want to make, we need to focus on these three things,” he said.
Another goal the group hopes to accomplish, Paszkiet said, is to acquire a plot of land and build tiny homes in Bozeman to provide affordable housing for those in need. He said the organization wants to provide a stable living environment for people who are in desperate situations.
“We feel like the best way to do that would be community cottages,” Paszkiet said.
Asked where the funding for the nonprofit is coming from, he said it’s mostly community support. Paszkiet said he asks different stores in the area if they’d be willing to help out with either donations or discounts for the nonprofit to do its work.
Paszkiet said the organization is committed to serving the community in any way it can.
“We’re just really trying to give people in the community a hand up in their time of need,” Paszkiet said.
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