Mission Statement:

Crystal Bay Township Housing Commission seeks to address the need for a range of housing options in Finland and Crystal Bay Township by identifying challenges, investigating solutions, building partnerships, and implementing greater access to affordable and safe housing. This is in service to and for the benefit of a diverse population of both current and future community members living and/or working in the area.

Current Housing Commission Board Member:

Sarah Mayer – Board Chair
B.J. Kohlstedt – Vice Chair
Colby Abazs – Secretary
Charlotte Hughes – Member
Michael Miller – Member
Rachel Clark – Member
Honor Schauland – Member

The Crystal Bay Town Board has reorganized their Housing Commission for a second term.
March – September of 2026.
View the Board’s Resolution here:
Housing Commission 32326Resolution.docx (1)

The Housing Commission fulfills a part of the Town Comprehensive Plan.
Which can be found here:
Crystal Bay Township Comprehensive Plan

Crystal Bay is currently in a partnership with the U of M through ESMC (Empowering Small Minnesota Communities) funding.
The Project is currently fully grant funded which means there is no cost for Crystal Bay Township taxpayers. To keep up to date on the financials of the project be sure to attend a monthly Township meeting.

If you would like to join in our Monthly Meetings you can find the information below by clicking the link.

If you would like to check us out on Facebook, please click the link below and enjoy viewing our most recent Community Meeting where we laid out our progress to date.

https://www.facebook.com/61556008871588/videos/1203146455143787

Here you will find a copy of the poster we had present at the meeting on 2/22/2025

Finland Home Solutions Poster 2/22/2025

Before we had a name we were dubbed (The Housing Project) Here are the results of our first and only survey to date!

Grant Summary found below in link

Here are some links too, including the housing presentation Moving In, Out, and Over
•    My “Brain Gain” landing page which contains articles, podcasts, and research papers. http://z.umn.edu/braingain
•    Rural Rebound Initiative overview video
https://youtu.be/eC6BPMjKWIM
•    Rewriting the Rural Narrative webinar (Jan 2023): https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aR0U7kazn5E
•    Supply and Demand of Rural Leadership webinar (March 2023):  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SVP_-G6asQU
•    How Many People Run our Towns? Positional Leadership across rural and urban Minnesota. https://conservancy.umn.edu/handle/11299/227109
•    Moving In, Moving Out, and Moving Over: Dynamics of Rural Housing webinar (Oct 2022): https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XOrSygXDINk
•    Living in the Middle of Everywhere presentation (Aug 2024) https://www.cts.umn.edu/events/seminars/2024/everywhereAdditional Resources


Additionally, here is the Rural Housing and Development Webinar https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GglIskqR92Q

Finland Home Solutions Monthly Committee Minutes & Resolutions