KALISPELL — Residents of the Spring Creek Mobile Home Park in Kalispell have been issued eviction notices and many of the residents cannot afford to move so the community is stepping in to help.
NeighborWorks Montana and the Whitefish Community Foundation started an emergency relief fund to help these residents find new homes and still have a place to live after the evictions.
“And in circumstances where an eviction is in place for this many households, there really isn't that many options for the residents. Most of the parks here in the Flathead are full do not have vacancy. And if they did, these homes are of an age that they would not be accepted to be in those parks. And so really many of these households are left without many options,” said Danielle Maiden with NeighborWorks Montana.
Due to the eviction notice 27 households will need to be relocated by the end of November. NeighborWorks Montana doesn’t normally do emergency relief funds but they do work with mobile home communities across Montana and felt the need to step in.
“Just really wanting to help out with those households and make sure that they stay housed and have a good comfortable home,” said Maiden.
And for the residents in this community, any little bit of help will make a big difference.
"Donations, anything would help at this point. All these people are struggling as is. Give us a break, that’s all we are asking,” said Spring Creek resident Debbie Kiser Wallace.
The Whitefish Community Foundation has stepped in to help manage the money and facilitate the fundraiser. They have put forward $45,000 to the $145,000 goal and have also waived the administration fees so that 100 percent of the proceeds will go to the residents.
“It just pulls at your heartstrings right? The Flathead Valley is such a special place and it's unfortunate that housing is is a crisis and a lot of us are getting pinched and and even leaving the Flathead. These are everyday people. These are folks that are woven into our community that work at the hospital and work at various employers with families," said Alan Davis with the Whitefish Community Foundation. "We heard that there's over 25 kids involved in this relocation. And so we just really wanted to jump in because it's a role we felt like we could play and that we could help the effort,”
People can make donations to residents of the Spring Creek Mobile Home Park through the Whitefish Community Foundation website.
