HospitalityMaine donates $20,000 for affordable workforce housing
Courtesy / Kathleen Pierce
HospitalityMaine CEO Steve Hewins, left, hands checks over to representatives of Maine's Habitat for Humanity chapters in 2018. The hospitality association has donated funds for affordable housing for 16 years.
This spring, a network of Maine inns, hotels and resorts raised funds for locals seeking permanent shelter year-round.
An annual tourism incentive administered by HospitalityMaine, Hospitality for Habitat, earlier this year raised more than $20,000 for Maine’s Habitat for Humanity chapters, according to a news release.
To support the global organization dedicated to eliminating poverty housing, inns from Wells to Bar Harbor offered reduced rates from April to May in lieu of guest donations.
“This has been a long partnership that benefits all our affiliates in the state,” Tia Anderson, executive director of Midcoast Habitat for Humanity said in the release. “Most of our local economies run on hospitality, so being able to tie the industry, and people from away, to our local communities benefits the people that actually live here.”
Since 2004, Maine’s nonprofit hospitality trade group has raised approximately $250,000 for Habitat, which includes eight Maine chapters.
“We feel strongly that some of these funds most probably were used to help provide a first home for workers in the hospitality industry and we remain committed to the program moving forward,” HospitalityMaine’s government affairs officer Greg Dugal said in the release. “Without the generosity of innkeepers and their guests, it would not be possible.”
A new Habitat for Humanity subdivision featuring one- and two-bedroom units breaks ground in Rockland later this year. The dwelling is geared for those working at nearby resorts and inns.
“There is a need for elderly housing, veteran housing and workforce housing,” said Anderson. “This could very well be housing for people in the hospitality industry.”
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