Habitat for Humanity of Wicomico County

Habitat For Humanity of Wicomico builds and sells houses for partner families that meet our rigorous application
process. Partner Families must earn within 30-60% of the area median income, have workable credit, be
employed with stable income and demonstrate a need for safe, affordable housing. The partner family also signs a shared equity agreement in exchange for the zero percent interest mortgage loan.

We also serve elderly low-income homeowners with our Roof & Home Repair program. With in-house funding, we
offer loans at zero percent interest. Otherwise, we help applicants by matching them with the USDA/Rural grants
and loans as well as the DHCD State grants and loans. We provide low income homeowners with free 'brush with
kindness' exterior projects as well. We have also partnered with Tidal Health's EXHALE program. The program is administered by a TidalHealth community health worker who conducts a comprehensive home and health assessment to determine what is needed to create a healthy, safe, energy-efficient home. HFHWC completes critical repairs to the homes to improve the quality of life & health of the homeowner.

In February 2020, leveraging our community-building program, we added a HabiCorps Workforce development
program to serve formerly incarcerated with job and soft skills training.

Our ReStore Thift store serves the community by providing a free pick-up service of unwanted, gently used
household furniture, appliances, and building materials and reselling donated items to shoppers, Our customer
base is largely low income. Our ReStore is open Tues-Sat. 60,000 people walk through its doors annually. The
ReStore helps fund our mission by providing enough income to cover our overhead.

Habitat Wicomico has built 71 homes (with the 72nd & 73rd under construction), 22 of which are in the Church Street neighborhood. HFHWC is participating in the "Here is Home" program with the City of Salisbury, MD. HFHWC has pledged to build/rehab 14 homes within the City Limits, with the groundbreaking of all homes to occur by September 2024, and with the last construction completion date no later than September 2027. These homes will be sold as owner-occupied low-to-moderate income families that earn between 30-80% of the area median income.

We are clustering our development to build a critical mass of homeowners in a concentrated area. We believe these new homeowners contribute to the broader effort to revitalize this core-city neighborhood and is an essential process for building hope and belief that healthier communities are achievable and beneficial for all.
In addition to building and renovating homes, Habitat Wicomico provides resources for our Partner Families through mentorships, classes, and counseling for financial literacy, family strengthening, and affordable housing assistance. By helping Partner Families help themselves, they learn how to improve credit, budget for future home expenses, and manage their monthly budget.

Wicomico Habitat has acquired 7 lots and 11 homes that will eventually provide affordable housing for low-income partner families. This will increase the level of homeownership in the Church Street/Doverdale and Westside neighborhoods, providing greater social stability and pride in these neighborhood. Clustering development in these areas contributes to the broader effort to revitalize this core-city neighborhood by increasing the number of homeowners. These partnership requirements demonstrate the Habitat philosophy of offering hardworking, deserving families "a hand up, not a handout." We want our Partner Families to succeed. In addition to building and renovating homes, Wicomico Habitat provides resources for our Partner Families through mentorships, classes, and counseling for financial literacy, family strengthening, and affordable housing assistance. All of these program requirements work to improve our partner families' credit, budgeting for future home expenses, and managing their monthly budget.

Wicomico Habitat's build team is led by a site supervisor, and assisted by a part-time roof and repair coordinator, a group of dedicated long-term "carpenter's club" volunteer construction volunteers, and a volunteer coordinator, with the help of volunteers and partner families. The administrative staff includes the executive director, development coordinator, and family services manager, whose collective functions include overseeing and executing various administrative operations, including fundraising and family services.

Public support & community partnerships with the City of Salisbury; DCHD; Telamon Corporation; City of Salisbury Neighborhood Housing Service; Americorps; Community Foundation of the Eastern Shore; United Way of the Lower Eastern Shore; Richard A. Henson Foundation aid our efforts to expand our programs within the city, while numerous partnerships with organizations and individuals that both provide funding and act as construction volunteers serve to further our mission to construct homes for our partner families.

Individuals Served Year-End FY2020, (7.1.19 –6.30.2020) data: Total Served YTD: 787
• Home Ownership Program = 2 families; 11 individuals
• Affordable Rental Program = 1 family, 2 individuals
• Roof & Repair Program = 13 families; 71 individuals
• New Partnership with Red Cross = 11 families; 22 individuals with smoke detectors installed Oct 2019
• Financial Literacy Training = 136 families & individuals
• Community Garden = 5 families; 20 individuals
• Youth engagement = 167 youth served
• Volunteerism = 358 individuals served 5336 hours

We track success of our programs in the following ways:
1) Community Impact: as measured by the number of families and individuals served; 168 families, 293 individuals as of 6/30/2020.
2) Homeowners' self-sufficiency, as measured by timely mortgage payments made; 79%
3) Community Engagement as measured by number of volunteers and total volunteer hours; 358 unique with 5336 hours in FY2020.
4) Build a sustainable organization as measured by number of months of operating cash with minimum of 6 months. Goal met.