TCHFH Celebrates 700th Home

As the economy flounders, plenty of demand still exists for at least one segment of the housing market: nonprofit organizations that rehabilitate homes or build new shelters for people in need. For proof, look no further than the most recent list of 100 biggest U.S. homebuilders from Builder Magazine, a publication of the National Association of Home Builders. International Habitat for Humanity, which caters to some of the lowest-income buyers, moved to No. 14 on the 2007 list, up from No. 16 a year earlier.
The list, released last week, showed that Habitat closed on 5,619 homes in 2007, down a modest 3 percent from the previous year.By contrast, closings for the top four builders were down 29, 33, 18 and 34 percent.Locally, organizations like Rebuilding Together Twin Cities and Twin Cities Habitat for Humanity are busy recruiting volunteer laborers and donations for projects that will benefit anyone from single moms to returning war veterans.Sharon Rolenc, a spokeswoman for Twin Cities Habitat for Humanity, said the current economy and the housing crisis “really underscore more than ever the need for affordable housing. Not just for the sector we support, but across the board.”One way to measure demand is to look at orientation sessions for prospective Habitat homebuyers.Through the first part of May, overall attendance at orientation sessions in the Twin Cities this year comes in at 623, which is exactly equal the attendance for all of 2007, Rolenc said.Twin Cities Habitat for Humanity is building in more parts of the metro area than it has in the past and is casting a wider net for orientation sessions, so that may be a contributing factor to the higher numbers.Still, the orientation numbers are “telling,” Rolenc said.Susan Haigh, president of Twin Cities Habitat for Humanity, said in a press release that the need for affordable housing is still greater than the supply.“Homeownership rates are declining, fragile neighborhoods are decimated by boarded and vacant homes, and job losses are real, particularly for the working poor,” Haigh said. “I can’t think of a time in recent history where the need for safe, decent and affordable homes has ever been more acute.”The needs extend to existing homes.Kathy Greiner, executive director of Rebuilding Together Twin Cities, which taps into volunteer labor and donations to fix up homes for people in need, said there’s increasing demand for her organization’s services.As food and gas get more expensive, low-income homeowners’ budgets are stretched to the limit. They’re falling behind on needed home repairs and the repairs are becoming increasingly expensive, Greiner said.Rebuilding Together relies on corporate sponsors to donate cash, materials and volunteer crews for its projects. Roughly 80 percent of the work crews come from local businesses, often as part of an effort to “give back” to the community, Greiner said.Donors include Minneapolis-based Allianz Life Insurance Co. and Honeywell Corp.Allianz has worked with Rebuild for three or four years and tries to recruit 30 or 40 employees to help out with specific projects, said Laura Juergens, the company’s senior charitable giving specialist.Employees can take eight hours of paid time off a year to volunteer.“Rebuilding helps people remain in their homes and remain self-sufficient,” Juergens said. “It seemed like a natural fit for what we give our money toward and what we volunteer for. ... It’s something I am sure we are going to continue for quite a while.”Julie Franklin, a vice president of communications for Honeywell, said working with Rebuild “really made sense to us from a standpoint of working to improve the living conditions of those in need” and helping a community organization that has made “a big difference.”Rebuilding Together Twin Cities is part of the national Rebuilding Together organization, which rehabs and repairs more than 9,000 homes each year, representing $100 million worth of projects.Ironically, builders who cater to the other end of the housing spectrum are still doing reasonably well. In June, 17 local builders will showcase $1 million-plus homes in the Twin Cities Luxury Homes Tour.There’s also the annual Builders Association of the Twin Cities event that makes a connection between the divergent market segments.Each BATC Parade of Homes event features a “Dream Home” that’s open to the public for a $5 donation. Proceeds benefit the association’s Builders Outreach Foundation, which provides housing for low-income buyers.Wendy Danks, BATC’s marketing director, said the Builders Outreach Foundation has built 13 or 14 affordable homes in St. Paul’s Frogtown neighborhood in recent years.The nonprofit foundation also completed a home rehabilitation for a wounded Iraq war vet this spring, and partnered with Minneapolis-based nonprofit Project for Pride in Living on a low-income housing project in Minneapolis.BATC members have been generous in their donations of labor, money and materials for those efforts, even as they have to devote more time to their own business during a challenging housing economy, Danks said.“We don’t build at the level of Habitat by any means,” Danks said. “But we are trying to meet the needs of the community when we can and how we can.”
By Brian JohnsonFinance and CommerceMay 16, 2008