Last month, I wrote a guest column outlining the scale of housing affordability challenges facing Whitefish. The thrust of the letter was this: Whitefish is the least affordable community in the fastest-growing county in the least affordable state in the country.
Given that context, it’s easy to feel like our work at Housing Whitefish is just a drop in the bucket. Breaking it down further, however, each of those “drops” represents a meaningful impact for a local family. A recent survey of our Workforce Rental Assistance Program participants shows that 71% feel more confident in their financial situation after receiving rental support.
That is good news for households and the community overall. The research is clear that safe, stable, and affordable housing improves health, education outcomes for kids, productivity, and long-term earningsi.
We serve more people every month and are committed to expanding our work. Over the last 15 months we have served 75 households, just over 1% of total households in the 59937 zip-code. Breaking it down further, we find:
- There are approximately 6,650 households in the 59937 zip-code, and around 1,842 are renters.
- Of which, close to 850 households are cost burdened, paying over 30% of their gross income towards rent. That is 46% of all renter households.
- Of those, half are under the area median income, leaving about 425 households that are living in the 59937 that may be eligible for our program.
Based on this analysis, we have served close to 18% of eligible households in the Whitefish area. That number would be even higher if we excluded households without a full-time local worker, a requirement of our program.
The early results are clear: our Workforce Rental Assistance program is helping our local workforce stay in Whitefish and improve their quality of life. Looking ahead, we plan to build homes people can afford to buy, not just rent.
At Housing Whitefish, we are committed to finding both short-term and long-term solutions to address our affordability challenges. With your support, we can keep expanding our reach — and our impact.
Daniel Sidder is Executive Director for Housing Whitefish.