The vital role of philanthropy
The Millworks is an innovative solution to Whatcom County’s biggest challenges. Philanthropy is the lynchpin that will bring it to life.
Philanthropy changes what’s possible
To make housing and economic mobility—the chance to improve one’s lot in life— attainable for more people, we must reduce the cost of capital. When financing is more affordable, it unlocks lower housing costs, new business opportunities, deeper community benefits, and a greater ability for people who are often left out of traditional development models to chart their course to wellbeing and prosperity.
Your philanthropy goes the extra mile when you invest in the Millworks. Charitable gifts, mission-driven investments, and low-interest capital can help close the gap between what it costs to build and what Whatcom County residents and entrepreneurs can realistically afford. Philanthropy allows the Millworks to prioritize long-term impact over short-term financial return.
A development model built for community dividends
Optimized primarily for financial return
Optimized for long-term community dividends
Single use or single-tenant focus
Housing, childcare, food, and work together in one place
Affordability varies
Permanently affordable, by design
Public benefit is ancillary to profit
Public benefit is the mission
Community is consulted late, if at all
Community shapes the project from day one
We’re looking for visionaries
Our community needs donors to take bold leadership and give generously.
Traditional solutions to local housing and childcare crises—one building, one program, one funding stream at a time—while essential, are not enough to meet the challenge. We’re asking visionaries to invest in what’s possible, not what’s typical.
Together, we have a chance to help build a future where more neighbors can stay, build lives and livelihoods, contribute to their community and thrive.
A different kind of return
When land is developed in the public interest, returns are counted not just in dollars for owners, but in all the ways they help a community prosper. The Millworks prioritizes community benefits: stable families, local business and job growth, a stronger local economy and a more resilient Whatcom County.
Philanthropists and impact investors are often drawn to evidence-based solutions for challenges that can seem too large or too entrenched to solve. The Millworks represents one of those opportunities: a practical, community-centered approach to creating lasting change and a proof point for what’s possible.
There is risk in doing things differently. And there is risk in doing nothing, or continuing to rely on the same approaches that have left too many people behind. The promise of Millworks is worth it.
