As the year comes to a close, I would like to reflect on the hope and joy Habitat for Humanity brings to our local community and the country as a whole. My first full year as the Executive Director of Central MN Habitat for Humanity (Central MN) has been filled with opportunities to hear from the community, and to impact the lives of our Habitat families. Here are a few takeaways from this past year.
Central MN school builds continue to resonate and serve not only the families who purchase the homes, but the students building the homes at the high schools as well. These students continue to move into the trades, an industry desperate for youth. The community continues to support these programs with time, talents, and treasures. Central MN will be looking to replicate this program in other schools as we expand our footprint!
The community has expressed the challenges of blue-collar families to purchase homes in the community due to high prices. We at Central MN have embraced this challenge. Currently, we are part of a Workforce Housing Summit to find solutions. Further, we have expanded our work to include serving those blue-collar families in the 60%-80% AMI (average median income). There is a lot of exciting work happening here.
Central MN has partnered with Stearns Bank on a $3 million partnership in which Steans Bank will purchase future first mortgages of our families. This will free up Central MN Habitat resources to build more and serve more families. Further, we will create a new innovative program to allow families to qualify for our Central MN Habitat mortgage and purchase homes on the open market. This will allow us to substantially increase the number of families we serve!
This and so much more! I mentioned at the start, Habitat for Humanity brings hope and joy for families who otherwise have little to no options to transform their lives. Studies have shown, for families who move to affordable homeownership, wealth increases, health improves, and grades go up. When the least in our community does better, we all do better!
There was a child many years ago who was born without a home- actually born in a barn. He spent the first few years of His life moving around between Israel and Egypt with his family. Habitat for Humanity was founded on His teachings, which continue to resonate in the work we do every day. We look forward to continuing and growing this work in the new year to come!
Blessings, Merry Christmas, and Happy Holidays to you all!
Chad Bouley
Executive Director
