Cedar Valley Habitat for Humanity
Building strength, stability, and self-reliance through shelter since 1988
Programs and results
What we aim to solve
CVHFH is part of a global, nonprofit housing organization operated on Christian principles that seeks to put God’s love into action by building homes, communities and hope. We are dedicated to eliminating substandard housing locally and worldwide through constructing, rehabilitating and preserving homes; by advocating for fair and just housing policies; and by providing training and access to resources to help families improve their shelter conditions. Habitat for Humanity was founded on the conviction that every man, woman and child should have a simple, durable place to live in dignity and safety, and that decent shelter in decent communities should be a matter of conscience and action for all.
Our programs
What are the organization's current programs, how do they measure success, and who do the programs serve?
Affordable Housing
To build safe, decent, affordable houses for low-income people.
Where we work
External reviews

Our results
How does this organization measure their results? It's a hard question but an important one.
Number of families served
This metric is no longer tracked.Totals By Year
Population(s) Served
Economically disadvantaged people
Related Program
Affordable Housing
Type of Metric
Output - describing our activities and reach
Direction of Success
Increasing
Context Notes
CVHFH serves families in Linn & Benton counties through new construction, home rehabilitations and exterior painting/repair projects.
Number of volunteers
This metric is no longer tracked.Totals By Year
Type of Metric
Input - describing resources we use
Direction of Success
Increasing
Context Notes
Individual volunteers have made reaching Cedar Valley Habitat for Humanity’s goals and achievements possible on the build site, in committees and at ReStore.
Hours of volunteer service
This metric is no longer tracked.Totals By Year
Type of Metric
Input - describing resources we use
Direction of Success
Increasing
Context Notes
Hours include individuals and corporations assisting our operations, as well as partner families logging sweat equity hours with us and other approved organizations.
Number of people on the organization's email list
This metric is no longer tracked.Totals By Year
Type of Metric
Output - describing our activities and reach
Direction of Success
Increasing
Context Notes
We use our email list to distribute the monthly newsletter as well as other important information on how to support Cedar Valley Habitat for Humanity. In 2021, we cleaned our contacts.
Number of Facebook followers
This metric is no longer tracked.Totals By Year
Type of Metric
Output - describing our activities and reach
Direction of Success
Increasing
Context Notes
Combined follower counts of CVHFH main page and CVHFH ReStore page. Our Facebook pages share day-to-day updates of our operations.
Our Sustainable Development Goals
Learn more about Sustainable Development Goals.
Goals & Strategy
Learn about the organization's key goals, strategies, capabilities, and progress.
Charting impact
Four powerful questions that require reflection about what really matters - results.
What is the organization aiming to accomplish?
Seeking to put God’s love into action, Cedar Valley Habitat for Humanity (CVHFH) brings people together to build homes, communities and hope. CVHFH is an ecumenical Christian housing ministry devoted to building simple, decent and affordable homes in Linn and Benton counties, Iowa.
What are the organization's key strategies for making this happen?
CVHFH serves families through a combination of three different programs:
New construction – building from the ground up in partnership with a qualified family.
Home rehabilitation – rehabbing an existing home in partnership with a qualified family.
Owner-occupied repairs – completing exterior painting and small repairs with a qualified family who already owns their home.
What are the organization's capabilities for doing this?
CVHFH is a proven homebuilder with a strong local track record. The organization has been building or rehabilitating homes since 1988 in both Linn and Benton counties, completing more than 167 homes locally. The driving force behind Habit is its volunteers. These volunteers, working side-by-side with partner families, provide much of the labor necessary for building the home. The work of CVHFH is made possible on an annual basis through significant donations of time, labor and monetary gifts. Businesses, faith-based organizations, foundations and others provide the upfront capital necessary to cover the hard costs of the homes.
What have they accomplished so far and what's next?
The organization has been building or rehabilitating homes since 1988 in both Linn and Benton counties, completing more than 167 homes locally. We also perform storm repair, aging in place, and outdoor repairs, through which we've served an additional 120 families. In 2022, CVHFH aims to serve up to 30 households through a combination of new home construction, rehabilitations, and owner-occupied home repairs.
How we listen
Seeking feedback from people served makes programs more responsive and effective. Here’s how this organization is listening.
-
Who are the people you serve with your mission?
Individuals and families in Iowa's Linn & Benton counties who have barriers to traditional mortgage. Homebuyers' income falls between 30%-60% of the Area Median Income.
-
How is your organization collecting feedback from the people you serve?
Electronic surveys (by email, tablet, etc.), Focus groups or interviews (by phone or in person), Case management notes, Suggestion box/email,
-
How is your organization using feedback from the people you serve?
To identify and remedy poor client service experiences, To identify bright spots and enhance positive service experiences, To identify where we are less inclusive or equitable across demographic groups, To strengthen relationships with the people we serve, To understand people's needs and how we can help them achieve their goals,
-
What significant change resulted from feedback?
Many of our future homeowners work multiple jobs or late hours, so we take our partner family's schedules into account when planning volunteering shifts in order to ensure success in sweat equity volunteering. Since we hold the mortgages on the homes we build, we remain in contact with our partner families for decades. The questions and feedback we receive from Habitat homeowners allow us to continuously adjust our program and communications to better serve future families.
-
With whom is the organization sharing feedback?
Our staff, Our board, Our funders,
-
How has asking for feedback from the people you serve changed your relationship?
While keeping up with their mortgage payments, some Habitat homeowners choose to deepen this extended commitment by continuing to volunteer with Habitat, advocating and spreading the word, shopping at ReStore, attending Habitat events, and joining Habitat advisory committees. These homeowners are vital sources of insight and institutional knowledge, who take pride in giving back to the organization that gave them a hand-up. They truly become partners in our mission.
-
Which of the following feedback practices does your organization routinely carry out?
We collect feedback from the people we serve at least annually, We take steps to ensure people feel comfortable being honest with us, We look for patterns in feedback based on demographics (e.g., race, age, gender, etc.), We look for patterns in feedback based on people’s interactions with us (e.g., site, frequency of service, etc.), We act on the feedback we receive, We tell the people who gave us feedback how we acted on their feedback,
-
What challenges does the organization face when collecting feedback?
It is difficult to get the people we serve to respond to requests for feedback, The people we serve tell us they find data collection burdensome,
Financials
Unlock nonprofit financial insights that will help you make more informed decisions. Try our monthly plan today.
- Analyze a variety of pre-calculated financial metrics
- Access beautifully interactive analysis and comparison tools
- Compare nonprofit financials to similar organizations
Want to see how you can enhance your nonprofit research and unlock more insights?
Learn more
about GuideStar Pro.
Operations
The people, governance practices, and partners that make the organization tick.
Connect with nonprofit leaders
SubscribeBuild relationships with key people who manage and lead nonprofit organizations with GuideStar Pro. Try a low commitment monthly plan today.
- Analyze a variety of pre-calculated financial metrics
- Access beautifully interactive analysis and comparison tools
- Compare nonprofit financials to similar organizations
Want to see how you can enhance your nonprofit research and unlock more insights? Learn More about GuideStar Pro.
Connect with nonprofit leaders
SubscribeBuild relationships with key people who manage and lead nonprofit organizations with GuideStar Pro. Try a low commitment monthly plan today.
- Analyze a variety of pre-calculated financial metrics
- Access beautifully interactive analysis and comparison tools
- Compare nonprofit financials to similar organizations
Want to see how you can enhance your nonprofit research and unlock more insights? Learn More about GuideStar Pro.
Cedar Valley Habitat for Humanity
Board of directorsas of 02/22/2022
Bryan Stobb
Organizational demographics
Who works and leads organizations that serve our diverse communities? Candid partnered with CHANGE Philanthropy on this demographic section.
Leadership
The organization's leader identifies as:
Race & ethnicity
No data
Gender identity
No data
No data
Sexual orientation
No data
Disability
No data
Equity strategies
Last updated: 01/12/2021GuideStar partnered with Equity in the Center - an organization that works to shift mindsets, practices, and systems to increase racial equity - to create this section. Learn more
- We ask team members to identify racial disparities in their programs and / or portfolios.
- We analyze disaggregated data and root causes of race disparities that impact the organization's programs, portfolios, and the populations served.
- We employ non-traditional ways of gathering feedback on programs and trainings, which may include interviews, roundtables, and external reviews with/by community stakeholders.
- We disaggregate data by demographics, including race, in every policy and program measured.
- We have community representation at the board level, either on the board itself or through a community advisory board.
- We engage everyone, from the board to staff levels of the organization, in race equity work and ensure that individuals understand their roles in creating culture such that one’s race identity has no influence on how they fare within the organization.