During the week of May 27, 2026, Zero to Five Montana’s Community Navigator, Shelby Whelan traveled from Butte to Poplar talking with local leaders along the way about their communities and the growing local early childhood system.
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Across rural Montana, communities are navigating growth, change, and challenges while holding tightly to the values that make small towns special. I asked each of these community leaders the same three questions:
- What makes your community special?
- When you think about families with young children in your area, what stands out to you about their strengths or needs?
- Where are you seeing momentum or positive change that gives you hope for local families?
While each conversation reflected the uniqueness of its community, several themes consistently emerged: Deep relationships, resilience, collaboration, and a strong commitment to supporting families and children. Continue reading to meet these leaders and hear about the love they have for their communities. The order in which they appear corresponds to the order I completed the interviews.
Darcey Juedeman – Geraldine
Organization: Geraldine Tiger Cubs
Role: Child care owner/director, president of booster club, president of local foundation, coach for local youth sports, farmer, parent
- What makes your community special?
Darcey describes Geraldine as a growing community with a real sense of community development as a collective good. She was particularly proud of how the community members have shown up to support local businesses, both existing and startups. The growth in the community has brought an increase in new families, which Geraldine has welcomed in a variety of ways. They have prioritized hosting family friendly events including those that partner with support service providers to increase accessibility to needed professionals that in other circumstances would warrant a trip to Great Falls, over an hour away.
- When you think about families with young children in your area, what stands out to you about their strengths or needs?
Darcey feels that while child care is a strength in the community, it continues to be a need and has room to grow. As a child care owner, she has had no problem filling slots in the facility and has built a relationship with staff that makes the day operate well. Even given all the good, there have been challenges. Darcey has worked with many local families, primarily farmers, that struggle to pay for necessary child care. They often do not qualify for the state funded child care scholarship program, the Best Beginnings Scholarship. Darcey explained that eligibility is calculated using income before taxes, which significantly misrepresents the actual financial reality many farm families experience.
- Where are you seeing momentum or positive change that gives you hope for local families?
The relationship with the school district has been a positive for both Darcey and her program and the school as well. Darcey specifically mentioned the benefits and flexibility in the relationship given that the child care remained its own independent business. Additionally, both entities have seen positive impacts of the Zero to Five Montana Employee Sponsored Grant program. The benefit of fully funded child care for school staff through Geraldine Tiger Cubs, has been instrumental to both school staff and the financial security of the child care facility.
Madeline Little – Geraldine
Organization: Geraldine Public Schools
Role: school district clerk, EMT, volunteer service, scholarship board member, local sports board member, farmer, and parent
- What makes your community special?
Madeline shared with me how special her community and the people within it are. She reflected on the differences between living in small and larger communities and described the sense of “togetherness” that is needed when challenges and successes occur in rural Montana. She believes that living in a small town exemplifies the phrase “it takes a village.” When everyone knows you and your family deeply you develop extremely close relationships. When situations arise, community members step up to wrap around you and carry you back to stability.
- When you think about families with young children in your area, what stands out to you about their strengths or needs?
Madeline recognizes that child care is a need in the community even as their supply has grown with the facility embedded in the school. She shared her own story as a mother having to leave the workforce to cover care for her family. She is hopeful when she talks with other families that do not need to make the same difficult decisions due to the increased access to care. She is also proud of the experience and resilience of the staff of educators in the community. They continue to show up for the children and families in a variety of ways. She specifically highlighted younger educators who bring exciting new ways to educate and support the community, and she looks forward to ways those ideas can be implemented.
- Where are you seeing momentum or positive change that gives you hope for local families?
Positive change is being felt in many ways, but one mission that was top of mind for Madeline has been the relationships built and the opportunities to partner with service providers in expanding access to necessary care. These events take special care to respect family boundaries while offering resources and services to bridge the barrier of long drives. The early childhood initiative in Geraldine schools has been a growing asset to the school and the broader community. The partnership between the child care program and the earliest grades at the school has been strong from the start, but it has been bolstered by the independence of the school and the child care business. The Early Literacy programming works hand in hand with the child care program to warmly hand off children between the programs as needed.
Paul Tuss – Havre
Organization: Bear Paw Economic Development
Role: Executive Director, Bear Paw Development Corporation, House District 28 Representative, board member for the local hospital
- What makes your community special?
Paul emphasized that all systems play a critical role in the success of community members and that he feels Havre systems work well together. Paul highlighted the local Chamber of Commerce slogan, “It’s the People”, explaining that community members actively invest in making Havre a place they love to live. He also spoke about how the local community has a deep connection to the land, supported by generations of families who cared for the Havre and surrounding area. He specifically mentioned a recent Earth Day community clean up project that shows the care folks have for their home.
- When you think about families with young children in your area, what stands out to you about their strengths or needs?
Paul is aware of the critical need for more quality and affordable child care and housing options. However, he believes that while those pillars of the community continue to grow, the tight-knit sense of community has been a long-lasting strength for families. Havre is recognized as a mid-size town with small town charm. He also mentioned that the relationships that community members have with each other, local services, and leaders have been an enduring strength.
- Where are you seeing momentum or positive change that gives you hope for local families?
Prior to Paul and I meeting, he visited with the Mayor of Havre on some new projects made possible by the Montana Department Pilot Tourism grant. He explained that this grant is helping the Havre community develop projects to enhance the community for families, including improving walkability and highlighting public art. Paul was very excited about the visibility and love rural communities are seeing from newcomers, calling the phenomenon a “rural renaissance”. Incoming community members are moving to rural Montana communities including Havre for a family-friendly community with a pace of life that matches their ideal vision of a community where they can raise a family.
Mckenzie Kruse – Havre
Organization: Saint Judes Catholic School
Role: extended care director, parent, artist, and dedicated community member
- What makes your community special?
Mckenzie shared how close the community is with one another and told several stories that demonstrated just how much families look out for each other. She spoke highly of friends who have stepped up to support them and cheer them on over the years they have lived there. She also explained that many of the families in Havre love how safe the community is and see it as a major factor in raising a family there.
- When you think about families with young children in your area, what stands out to you about their strengths or needs?
McKenzie explained how dedicated services in the community are to doing their best to support families when challenges come up. Mckenzie mentioned the positive impact of children and families who are challenged by food scarcity getting access to the free lunch program. Mckenzie recognized the strength of local families to reach out for help when they need it and accept support. As a teacher, she has seen resilience in her students and their excitement about learning. While families welcome services, Mckenzie also noted the difficulty in making long drives to access services outside of Havre.
- Where are you seeing momentum or positive change that gives you hope for local families?
Mckenzie highlighted the growth she is noticing for programs like Court Appointed Special Advocates (CASA) and the positive impact they are having on kids in her community. She feels that while early childhood education programming is growing, there is still opportunity for growth. As the extended care director, she has noticed the success and preparedness of children who have utilized all education levels of the elementary school like pre-k and extended care. She is excited by the always growing academic and social skills of her students.
Rickielynn Hughes, Hilary Gourneau, Faith Birdtail, Brittany Deavila, Mitchrena Begay – Poplar
Organization: Fort Peck Head Start
Roles: staff of the Fort Peck Head Start, parents, caregivers, dog moms, relatives, educators, cooks, administrative staff, and a variety of board members (school, community), local sports coach
- What makes your community special?
The team shared about the strong sense of connection among community members and the effort that everyone has put in to empower each other in many ways both professionally and personally. Rickielynn specifically highlighted the kindness and humor that is especially present in the community as a way of showing the love and care they all have for one another. Each of the staff members agreed with Hilary Gourneau about how close the community and Head Start staff are. She describes their relationship as a big family. These relationships have been critical in supporting each other through good and challenging times.
- When you think about families with young children in your area, what stands out to you about their strengths or needs?
Each of the staff agreed that the community, including each of them, are energized and healed by the power of young children. They spoke deeply about how important it is for staff to sit with families and learn from their experiences. The staff recognizes families bring different experiences to the program each day and is dedicated to providing the care that is necessary to empower families that have experienced trauma.
- Where are you seeing momentum or positive change that gives you hope for local families?
The Head Start staff shared with me some exciting data-backed cultural lessons that are informing their work with families, detailed in this research article: Wakȟáŋyeža (Little Holy One) – an intergenerational intervention for Native American parents and children: a protocol for a randomized controlled trial with embedded single-case experimental design
This growing practice shows impact in improving parenting practices, increased parent knowledge, and decreased PTSD symptoms. The group is excited about two new facilities, one in Wolf Point and one in Poplar coming in 2026 and 2027 respectively. While these facilities have, in part, been financially supported by the tribe, more than that, Rickielynn and the team shared how eager the whole community is to see these facilities thrive.
As these facilities become more of a reality, the staff at the Fort Peck Head Start are working to carefully design transition plans to support children and families. The new facilities will offer even more community good than a space for education but will also become a central location for families and children to receive servicesand supports, reducing stress and increasing their ability to learn and grow.
Despite any challenges across Turtle Island, many individuals remain deeply committed and dedicated to its home, its children, and its people. Together, they continue to support one another’s neighbors, coworkers, relatives, and families; whose strength, unity, and love help shape and uplift their homes and, most importantly, their people.
–Shelby Whelan is Zero to Five Montana’s Community Navigator
