Displaced hotel residents receive checks from Whitefish businessman

Four days before the lights were set to be turned off at the FairBridge Inn, Suites & Outlaw Convention Center, the remaining guests of the extended-stay hotel received donations that could help them avoid homelessness.

Whitefish businessman Michael Goguen donated $350,000 in the form of $10,000 checks to the remaining households still living in what’s known as “The Annex” portion of the FairBridge Inn.

Cheyanne Sciacqua, who lives at the hotel with her fiancé and 6-month-old son, called the donation “life-changing.”

“We are truly thankful for the Goguen family for helping us out and giving us at least some hope,” Sciacqua said.

More than 100 guests living in the extended-stay portion of the hotel were given notice by FairBridge CEO Steve Rice on Jan. 12 informing them they would need to find alternative accommodations by Feb. 12. Rice is selling the hotel to Portland-based Fortify Holdings, and the buyer plans to turn the hotel into 250 studio apartments.

Sciacqua moved into the FairBridge with her fiancé, Anthony Morris, in February 2020. They only planned to make the hotel a temporary stay, but the birth of Jordan Morris last year and the lack of housing inventory in the area anchored them to their room at the FairBridge.

When they received word that they would need to leave the hotel, the family scrambled to find housing. Sciacqua and Morris, who work in the food service and retail industries, respectively, decided they would have to relocate to jobs in Missoula in order to continue to support their family.

With the $10,000 check, Sciacqua feels more confident she will be able to find a place to live in the Flathead.

“Now we can stay here in the valley,” she said.

Sciacqua was grateful both for Goguen’s generosity and the outspokenness of her fellow residents in raising awareness about their displacement.

“We are extremely thankful that all the residents helped by stepping up and stepping out and helping stick together,” she said

Despite the relief from the checks, Sciacqua said there’s still disappointment hanging over many of the FairBridge guests with the hotel set to close down.

“We are all families and we are all sad that we won't be neighbors anymore, but it is time for us to all enter into another journey…” she said.

Sciacqua said she’s looking forward to the redevelopment of the FairBridge Inn, because she recognizes the desperate need for affordable housing in a community with a 0% vacancy rate.

“Fortify will be a wonderful thing to happen,” she predicted.

She was hopeful Fortify’s plans will ultimately help address the acute need for housing that she recently experienced firsthand.

“Now we as a whole community need to make sure this doesn't end up happening again to anyone else in the future to come,” she added.