KALISPELL — Habitat for Humanity of Flathead Valley is working to provide more affordable workforce housing in the Flathead with two major projects in the works in Kalispell and Whitefish.
“This neighborhood is dedicated for the workforce, we don’t want remote workers, we don’t want investors, this is truly a workforce housing project for Kalispell,” said Habitat for Humanity of Flathead Valley Executive Director MaryBeth Morand.
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Habitat for Humanity of Flathead Valley has unveiled plans to build a residential development called Birchwood Neighborhood consisting of 95 residential units including townhomes, cottages, and detached single-family residences.
Morand said habitat purchased the 21-acres of land just south of Four Mile Drive in Kalispell from the Montana Department of Transportation in 2024.
“This is a multi-year project, and you know we’ve been working on this already for two years, so this is just the beginning of the city approval process but of course we’ve been in conversation with the city for over a year on this project,” said Morand.
Morand said the project needs to be formally approved by Kalispell City Council before any construction can begin, but she said the demand is strong for more workforce housing in Kalispell.
“It is a priority because a lot of the employers here are expanding and they’re scaling up and that just means we have that much more pressure to build more houses for incoming workforce to," added Morand.
Morand said Habitat has also launched a campaign in Whitefish to build 10 homes a year for the next 10 years for workforce families.
The project called "Grounded in Whitefish" is made possible thanks to donated land from philanthropists including the Goguen family, and the City of Whitefish, with groundbreaking on the first home coming this July.
“There’s a dozen ways to support habitat and we just hope the whole community will come together and help us get these houses built for our workforce because we need them more than ever before,” said Morand.
Habitat for Humanity is hosting a town hall open house regarding the Whitefish project on Wednesday, June 10 from 5 p.m. to 7 p.m. at the O’Shaughnessy Center in Whitefish.
Topics discussed include -
*Homeownership Opportunities
*Construction Volunteering
*Mentorship of Homeowners
*Donations of Goods and Services
*Fundraising for Affordable Housing
