About Us
A parking lot conversation gave rise to the idea for the Goosefoot Community Fund just over 20 years ago. A thriving South Whidbey community will always be our number one priority.
Success through Innovation, Collaboration, and Change
One of the best things about living on South Whidbey Island is that close-knit feeling of a rural community that we all enjoy. It’s a feeling that has to do with belonging, shared values, and a strong neighbor helping neighbor ethic. It was that special sense of South Whidbey community—and a strong desire to preserve it—that gave birth to Goosefoot.
A conversation in the parking lot of Bayview Corner’s Cash Store in 1999 marked the start of Goosefoot. That historic Bayview building had fallen into disrepair. Its owners were considering selling it. And our community was in danger of losing a central gathering place and a piece of its history.
As long-time South Whidbey resident Nancy Nordhoff and her friend Linda Moore stood in the parking lot and considered Bayview without the Cash Store, they decided they simply could not let that happen.
From the beginning, however, Goosefoot’s mission was focused on much more than simply giving people a nice place to shop and mingle at Bayview Corner. Our goal was to work in partnership with our community to enhance the cultural, environmental and economic vitality of South Whidbey. We want to help make this a great place to live for all our residents—long-timers and newcomers, the well-to-do and the just-getting-by, the political left and the right, and those who fall somewhere in between.
Sometimes we lead.
Sometimes we follow.
Most often, we are collaborators and supporters working for our community’s future.
We have a unique way to approach that goal. As a 501(c)3 nonprofit organization, we are responsible developers of commercial real estate property, who aim to use that property for the betterment of South Whidbey Island. This social entrepreneurship allows us to create community friendly places and to fund programs and activities that contribute to a rich and rewarding life on South Whidbey. The goal of our development efforts lies not just in what we do with the property itself—Bayview Cash Store or the Sears House at Bayview Corner or the Goose Grocer at Bayview Center—but in reinvesting revenue from those efforts back into our community.
WHAT IS A GOOSEFOOT?
A goosefoot is actually a plant—of the genus Chenopodium. There are 150 varieties, many whom have leaves resembling the foot of a goose. Quinoa, beets, and spinach are edible members of the goosefoot family.
The founders wanted a name that wouldn’t commit their new organization to a specific purpose, so they looked to the plant kingdom. The name has served us well as our projects have shifted over the years.
Essential Solutions for Our Way of Life
Goosefoot is not the same organization it was when it was founded in 1999. Over the years, we have strategically shifted our priorities and programs in response to available resources and the needs of our community.
However, three things will never change: Our promise, mission, and vision.
Our Promise.
Goosefoot works together with the South Whidbey community to create essential solutions.
We address community needs, fund local nonprofits, help local businesses grow, preserve great places and connect neighbors.
Vision.
An economically thriving, environmentally resilient, and socially inclusive community for all.
Mission.
Goosefoot is dedicated to supporting essential needs, helping local businesses grow, preserving historic places and rural landscapes and connecting neighbors. We do this through our innovative initiatives, partnerships and events aimed to enrich our entire community.
Our Values.
- We affirm the dignity and worth of each member of our community.
- We strive for equity and work toward solutions to eliminate structural and systemic inequalities that harm some groups while benefiting others.
- We collaborate and build community through partnerships founded on integrity and trust.
- We incubate and advance innovative responses to the emergent needs of the community.
- We promote resiliency and wellbeing among everyone in our community and the environment we call home.
- We take care of resources we receive through the generosity of others and leverage those to benefit the community.
- We act with focused, deliberate purpose, acknowledging when we need to change course and seeking continuous growth and learning.