Habitat for Humanity Kicks off Whitefish Initiative with Contributions from City, Donors
Community members can learn more about the organization's plan to build 10 homes every year for 10 years at an open house event from 5 to 7 p.m. on June 10 at the O’Shaughnessy Center
By Lauren Frick
Habitat for Humanity of Flathead Valley on Tuesday announced the launch of a new affordable housing initiative that aims to build 10 houses in Whitefish each year over the next 10 years.
The campaign — Grounded in Whitefish— kicked off this week with philanthropic donations from the Goguen family and individual donors, as well as a monetary contribution from the city of Whitefish through its resort tax fund.
“Habitat Flathead is thrilled to see the Grounded in Whitefish campaign lift off with such overwhelming, generous support,” Executive Director MaryBeth Morand said in a press release. “The combination of significant investment from leaders in our philanthropic community and the City of Whitefish is making the dream of affordable home ownership an immediate reality for our town.”
Grounded in Whitefish is centered on homeownership opportunities for the Whitefish workforce. Applicants for homes built in the campaign must be able to prove that one of the household members signing the deed to the house works at least thirty hours per week for a Whitefish-based employer and essential workers will be priority applicants, according to Habitat Flathead.
All Habitat Flathead homes, and therefore all the Grounded in Whitefish homes, are deed restricted against any kind of rental and commercial use, and the nonprofit wants all the houses built to eventually become part of the Northwest Montana Community Land Trust’s long-term pool of affordable housing.
The Goguens, Whitefish residents and philanthropists, recently donated the lot at 345 Spokane Ave. and Habitat Flathead intends to build up to five two-bedroom townhouses on the property. The family also invested in the campaign to build the 100 homes with a large financial contribution to cover preliminary construction costs, according to the press release.
“Habitat homeownership is not a handout,” Jamie Goguen wrote in a social media post announcing the land donation. “It is a pathway.”
Grounded in Whitefish will begin its first project this summer with the construction of three-bedroom townhouses at 1958 and 1966 Whitefish Ave. The lot was sold with a generous discount to Flathead Habitat by lot owners Jack Alton and Zach Pitts, and is being purchased with city resort tax funds.
“They just had it appraised, and it appraised at $400,000 just for the parcel of land, which is astounding,” Morand told city councilors at their meeting on Monday. “They’re offering it to us as a bargain sale for 33% less than that.
“It’s just such a great kick start to get more and more people to do things like that. We will continue to be opportunistic and work with anyone who wants to sell their land at a discount or donate land.”
City councilors at their regular meeting Monday night unanimously voted to approve a one-time grant of $250,000 for the purchasing of the land for the two lots for Habitat homes. These funds will come from the more than $1 million budgeted from the Fiscal Year 2026 Resort Tax Fund for affordable housing projects and homes, according to city documents.
The homes will have a restriction of ownership to households with income at or below 80% Area Median Income (AMI), a term of 2 years for completion of the project and a shared appreciation allowing the homeowner only 25% of the appreciated value at the time of sale.
Habitat Flathead is aiming to close on the property in the coming days and have construction plans submitted to the city by the end of the month, with Morand hoping to break ground by August, she told councilors Monday night.
“About four years ago, when we decided to go back to the community to take a portion of the tourism tax and put it towards affordable housing issues, I think this is exactly what we were envisioning,” Councilor Steve Qunell said. “This is the exact kind of project that we did that hard work for. It’s been a long time coming to have some money like that and finally see this come to fruition where we actually get two homes for people rather than just rental assistance or buying the land underneath existing homes, which is what we’ve been doing.”
Community members can learn more about Habitat Flathead and the Grounded in Whitefish campaign from 5 to 7 p.m. on June 10 at the O’Shaughnessy Center, 1 Central Ave. Residents at the event can learn about the application process for owning a Habitat home, how to sign up to volunteer, and hear about other ways community members can support Habitat Flathead.