Families Face Risks by Relocating to Williston | Video

Evan Kruegel | 1/23/2013

Oil development continues to bring workers to Williston, but city officials want more families. "A family is what builds a strong community, and what helps build the stabilization of a community”, says Assistant Director of Economic Development Shawn Wenko.

But it`s not so easy for incoming families. Doug Gohner says his company convinced him to take the risk and bring his family to Williston, but after an injury, he was laid off.

"I was going to come out here and just work by myself, but they convinced me that the right thing to do would be to move my family out here to show them I`d be here to work for them. And then they turn around and do this. I`ve been there for over year, I`m a good worker, and now they`re turning me out into the cold."

The house the Gohner`s live in is owned by the company, so even if he can find another job to pay the rent, they won`t be allowed to stay. And finding available housing for two adults, their daughter and four dogs in Williston is no easy task. He says he wants his story to serve as a lesson for other men who might be thinking about relocating families of their own.

"You don`t ever hear this part of the Bakken. It`s all big money and promises, but it`s not. So anybody that`s thinking about coming-out here to go to work, think twice. Don`t bring your family, because you could end up in the street.”

While circumstances like Gohner`s are rare, city officials say it`s certainly a risk counting on your employer to supply housing.

"There`s a couple factors that are in play with people coming from outside of the area wanting to purchase single family homes, obviously your price point is up there with the shortage of supply, and at the same time there could be outside factors affecting them,” said Wenko.

But for the Gohner’s, it might be too late. They want to stay in Williston, but if they can`t find an affordable place to live by the end of the month, they may have to pack up and head home.

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