Explore Whitefish makes $50,000 donation to Housing Whitefish

Explore Whitefish presented a check for $52,012 to Housing Whitefish Tuesday for the first increased Community Sustainability Fund allocation for housing from July through September. 

The presentation happened at Whitefish City Hall with members and directors of both organizations.

Explore Whitefish recently reallocated funding from the fund to support Housing Whitefish in a more significant way, doubling its support for affordable housing initiatives as the local tourism board continues its community sustainability push while looking out for the economic viability of its members.

The fund is the 1% voluntary assessment that Explore Whitefish manages from revenues collected at member restaurants, hotels, and transportation companies. Fifty percent of the funds collected at member restaurants now support affordable workforce housing.    

“The Explore Whitefish member community has aligned in creating the CSF and contributing to projects that help protect our authenticity and sustain our close-knit community, way of life, and wild spaces,” says Julie Mullins, executive director of Explore Whitefish.

In October, Explore Whitefish's board of directors announced a unanimous decision to allocate 50% of contributions collected from restaurant business members to Housing Whitefish, a local nonprofit organization that advocates, creates, and plans for the sustainable supply of housing that everyone in our community can afford.   

“We are very proud to present Housing Whitefish with the first installment from funds collected within our fiscal year,” said Mariah Joos, Explore Whitefish board chair. “It’s an impressive amount of money. I think as a community we can work together to support these businesses that choose to collect the 1% and are working to support affordable housing.”

In addition to this check, Explore Whitefish had previously donated $150,000 to Housing Whitefish from earlier initiatives for a total of $202,012 for housing initiatives. In 2021, Explore Whitefish realigned the 1% voluntary assessment that included up to $75,000 for Housing Whitefish to financially support grant writing services and operations each year. 

“Housing Whitefish is grateful for these contributions,” said Daniel Sidder, executive director at Housing Whitefish. “With these contributions, we can begin to put projects and programs into action like rental assistance and help finance major projects for sustainable workforce housing. We are excited to continue to grow with the support of Explore Whitefish and our other generous partners.”

A list of Explore Whitefish restaurant members can be found at https://explorewhitefish.com/dine.