KALISPELL - This week marks 10 years since Northwest Montana United Way purchased a large portion of commercial space inside the old Gateway West Mall off Highway 2 in Kalispell.
They have since turned that space into a campus of nonprofits, calling it the Gateway Community Center.
“It’s so refreshing and nice to have easy access to so many resources for our community,” said Serious JuJu Operations Manager Randy Beckstrom.
Watch to check out Kalispell's Gateway Community Center:
Serious JuJu provides youth and their families a healthy space to be celebrated and strengthened through skateboarding.
They are one of 22 nonprofits that now call the Gateway Community Center home, thanks to a partnership with Northwest Montana United Way.
“We absolutely would not be able to operate in the capacity and run the program like we do without a space like this,” added Beckstrom.
Beckstrom said the United Way charges rent at less than 50% of the average open market costs for commercial space.
That allows nonprofits to not only survive but thrive inside the Gateway Community Center.
“We’re an indoor skate park, right? We don’t charge people to come in here, and so for them to have flexibility with us and allow us to pay a lower price for prime commercial space is incredible. It’s one of the only reasons we get to continue doing what we are doing in such an incredible location.”
Northwest Montana United Way Executive Director Jodie Cross said charging rent at a discounted rate compared to the open market allows nonprofits the ability to help more people in the community.
“Which allows them to fundraise and use those funds towards their services, towards their people as opposed to their overhead,” said Cross.
The Gateway Community Center is home to a wide range of nonprofits, from Code Girls United, CASA for Kids and Coffee with Survivors.
“It opens up doors for all kinds of people, and I really enjoy it,” Coffee with Survivors President Don Donald told MTN.
Coffee with Survivors is a support group that gives people affected by a Traumatic Brain Injury a safe place to talk to one another.
Donald started the nonprofit after he suffered a Traumatic Brain Injury when he worked as a firefighter for the U.S. Forest Service. His group now meets weekly at the Gateway Community Center.
“I love it because I can meet more people and help more people, that’s my goal in life, to help more people and do more things and get more people involved,” said Donald.
Cross invites the Flathead community to come on down to the Gateway Community Center and check it out for yourself.
“Come down, check it out, walk through, feel the ambiance, feel the collaboration, feel the community that takes place inside these walls.”
