PLATINUM2022

Blue Ridge Habitat for Humanity

We build strength, stability and self-reliance through shelter.

Winchester, VA   |  www.blueridgehabitat.org

Mission

Blue Ridge Habitat for Humanity (BRHFH) is part of a global, nonprofit housing organization focused on building and rehabilitating homes, communities and hope. Since 1997, BRHFH has helped change the lives of 81 hardworking family homeowners in Winchester city, and the counties of Frederick, Clarke, and Shenandoah. Through our home-buying and rental programs, we have provided shelter for over 250 men, women and children. Candidates served by our homeownership program must have an income that is 30-70% below the local Area Median Income. Each adult family member invests 250 sweat equity hours building their home or those of other BRHFH future homeowners. In addition, they must attend a series of educational workshops regarding finances and homeownership.

Notes from the nonprofit

- Received 5-stars from Home Guide 2017 - 2017 Business Honor Roll Award from the Virginia School Boards Association -2021 HUD Section 4 Capacity Building Grant Awardee -2021 Affordable and Special Needs Housing Grant Awardee -2022 HFHI Home Design Award: Durability

Ruling year info

1997

Executive Director

Kim Herbstritt

Main address

400 Battaile Drive

Winchester, VA 22601 USA

Show more contact info

Formerly known as

Habitat for Humanity of Winchester-Frederick-Clarke

Habitat for Humanity of Winchester-Frederick County

EIN

54-1816368

NTEE code info

Housing Development, Construction, Management (L20)

Community, Neighborhood Development, Improvement (S20)

IRS filing requirement

This organization is required to file an IRS Form 990 or 990-EZ.

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Communication

Programs and results

What we aim to solve

SOURCE: Self-reported by organization

Our total locality has over 120,000 residents, with Winchester as the hub. Approximately 15.7% of Winchester's population is living at or below the federal poverty level. The area median income (AMI) for Winchester is $44,731. Thirty-two percent of homeowners and 53.8% of renters are considered cost-burdened, which means they spend more than 30% of their pre-tax income on housing. There are approx 11,917 units available: 5,684 were owner-occupied, with the rest either being rented or vacant. Approximately three quarters of the rental units are located in Winchester's central corridor while 85% of the homes on the suburban edges of the city are owner-occupied. Twenty-eight percent of housing units in Winchester are multi-unit structures while 72% are single-unit structures. Of those units, 1% lack complete plumbing facilities, 1.4% lack complete kitchen facilities, and 3.2% lack phone service. The median number of rooms is six and 55% of housing units have three or more bedrooms.

Our programs

SOURCE: Self-reported by organization

What are the organization's current programs, how do they measure success, and who do the programs serve?

Habitat for Humanity Homeownership Program

To build decent, affordable houses for the population making between 30%-70% of our Area Median Income; these homes are sold to partner families through an affordable mortgage loan. Mortgage payments are recycled back into our building program to build more houses.

Population(s) Served
Adults

For families to succeed, sometimes the dynamics of their neighborhood have to change. Neighborhood Revitalization is a holistic approach that expands Habitat’s traditional partnership with new homeowners and volunteers to include neighbors and local organizations for a far greater impact.

While new home construction continues to play a vital role, a bigger toolbox that includes rehabilitation of homes, home preservation & repair and other services allows Habitat to serve more families. Neighborhood Revitalization starts at the grassroots level — with people in the community determining the goals for their neighborhood.

Population(s) Served
Adults

Through our Aging in Place program, Habitat helps older adults age at home and in communities of their choice. Our local Habitat affiliates collaborate with human services organizations to evaluate individual needs and provide critical home repairs, modifications and community services specific to each homeowner’s lifestyle to preserve their home and their independence.

We know that aging in place extends longevity and quality of life, and safe and stable housing and community networks are core to these outcomes. Surveys of homeowners who partner with us show they’re mentally and physically healthier, feel safer at home, and engage with their family and friends more.

Safe and accessible housing is a key social determinant of health. As leaders in housing, with our vast network across the United States and evidence-based approach, Habitat’s Housing Plus: Critical Home Repair and Aging in Place program advances both housing and health equity for older Americans.

Population(s) Served

Where we work

Affiliations & memberships

Habitate for Humanity Mid America 2013

Habitat for Humanity Virginia 2013

Our results

SOURCE: Self-reported by organization

How does this organization measure their results? It's a hard question but an important one.

Ensure sustainable and appropriate level of new home construction/rehabilitation in our service area

This metric is no longer tracked.
Totals By Year
Population(s) Served

Families

Related Program

Habitat for Humanity Homeownership Program

Type of Metric

Output - describing our activities and reach

Direction of Success

Increasing

Context Notes

# new homes/rehabs/repairs completed and closed/sold per year. Goal is 3 for 2018, 3 for 2019, and 4 for 2020.

Initiate Neighborhood Revitalization repair and community outreach program

This metric is no longer tracked.
Totals By Year
Population(s) Served

Adults

Related Program

Habitat for Humanity Neighborhood Revitalization Initiative

Type of Metric

Output - describing our activities and reach

Direction of Success

Increasing

Context Notes

# of homes repaired in our geographic service area, and # of targeted community large-scale engagements per year. For 2018, 8 total; for 2019, 8 total; for 2020, 11 total.

Number of low-income families housed in affordable, well-maintained units as a result of the nonprofit's efforts

This metric is no longer tracked.
Totals By Year
Population(s) Served

Families

Related Program

Habitat for Humanity Homeownership Program

Type of Metric

Output - describing our activities and reach

Direction of Success

Increasing

Context Notes

# families at the 30-70% AMI, as defined by HUD, partnered and closed on Habitat homes per year. Goal is 3-4 per year by 2020.

Advocate for fair housing and increase communication/partnerships with other similar organizations

This metric is no longer tracked.
Totals By Year
Population(s) Served

Adults

Related Program

Habitat for Humanity Homeownership Program

Type of Metric

Output - describing our activities and reach

Direction of Success

Increasing

Context Notes

# meetings/conferences with elected officials that can influence housing policy, and # engagements with like-organizations. Goal is 4 meetings/year

Ensure accessible-design construction for all future homes built by Habitat

This metric is no longer tracked.
Totals By Year
Population(s) Served

Families

Related Program

Habitat for Humanity Homeownership Program

Type of Metric

Output - describing our activities and reach

Direction of Success

Increasing

Context Notes

# new homes constructed with 1st floor bedroom design included for aging-in-place design. Goal is 2/3 of all homes beginning in 2017 will have a 1st floor BR

Our Sustainable Development Goals

SOURCE: Self-reported by organization

Learn more about Sustainable Development Goals.

Goals & Strategy

SOURCE: Self-reported by organization

Learn about the organization's key goals, strategies, capabilities, and progress.

Charting impact

Four powerful questions that require reflection about what really matters - results.

Homeownership (shelter) is a crucial foundation for helping low-income families find a path out of poverty. When they move out of substandard housing and into Habitat homes, homeowners and their families frequently improve their health, educational attainment, safety, and personal wealth. Habitat provides the opportunity for partner families to participate in a self-empowering program that helps families help themselves. This is not an entitlement program, but rather a program that gives a hand-up, not a hand-out. Partner families have to meet the income requirements, and they have to demonstrate both a need and a desire to partner. As a partner, Habitat builds houses with families, not for them. Thus, our organizational goals are to increase our families' Strength, Stability, and Self-Reliance through homeownership, and to ultimately revitalize underserved neighborhoods in our service area.

BRHFH undertakes four primary, or core, strategies for increasing Strength, Stability, and Self-Reliance of our partner families:

1) New home construction and rehabilitation of existing homes:
- Build/rehabilitate 4-5 additional safe, decent, and affordable homes annually, with plan to increase capacity in future years
- Provide required homebuyer educational programs (budget, finance, home maintenance)
- Require "sweat equity" as part of the partnership with BRHFH
- Continue with EarthCraft certification of all homes, to provide a green and energy-efficient standard footprint in the community
- Begin to build more to scale to meet the needs of the affordable housing crisis facing this country

2) Critical home repair weatherization projects:
- Develop program to identify and deliver programmatic activities to address home repair needs of existing partner families and non-partner family homeowners to allow families to age in place, as well as to address key deferred maintenance issues impacting lower-income families
- Focus program on both critical home repair (internal), and basic home maintenance support (external)

3) Neighborhood Revitalization Program:
- Continue to support Norris Village rental units, and transition each unit into homeownership over the next five years
- Support neighborhood, community engagement programs like Rock The Block, Day of Service, United Way's Day of Caring, and MLK Day
- Partner with community non-profits to leverage greater impacts, such as Free Clinic (health) and Literacy Volunteers Winchester Area (education)

4) ReStore retail operations:
- Provide community with outlet for recycling gently used home improvement products
- Provide community with discounted, quality products for home improvement
- Provide BRHFH with revenue to support admin/overhead costs to reduce reliance on grants and donation funding for these costs
- Provide green programs to reduce waste in our community's landfills

1) Board:
- Dedicated and engaged volunteer Board of Directors
- Working Board, with all Board members involved in one or more committees to support the work directly
- Board members with experience, proper skill sets, and institutional knowledge (2 x Board members were original founders in 1997)

2) Staff
- Appropriate number of staff members to support the mission (Exec Dir, Construction and Safety and construction support staff, Dir Program Services, Dir Marketing/Resource Dev, ReStore Dir and ReStore staff)
- Construction Director and ReStore Director with experience, community connections, and proven expertise
- Long-term partnership and experience with the EarthCraft certification program

3) Volunteers
- Dedicated and consistent volunteer homebuilding crew leaders with needed capacity to build the homes envisioned. Crew leaders also have the experience and proven success, as well as institutional knowledge (senior crew leader has participated in 63 of 65 home builds to date)
- Winchester-Frederick-Clarke-Shenandoah Counties are well-known for being a giving community and volunteerism is very strong. We consistently acquire and receive adequate volunteer support from the faith community, from corporations, schools/university, and individuals within the private sector

4) Resource Development
- We have proven success writing public and private foundational grants to support our work
- We are very competitive within the community for donations and fundraising with the faith community, corporations, and individuals
- We have proven, long-term relationships with our much-needed in-kind trade partners to supply donated, at cost, or reduced cost materials and skill-based services

To date, this year, we are on track to be successful with our stated goals and objectives:
1) Completed and closed on 3 homes in 2017, and have 5 homes currently underway in 2018-2019.
3) Completed 3 major neighborhood, community engagement events in 2016, and have 3 major events lined up for 2019.
4) ReStore celebrating our 11th year anniversary, and we recently relocated to a larger store (34,000 square feet), tripling our previous store size. Revenue continues to grow and we are thus able to continually expand our programs and the resources needed to meet those needs.
5) Recently hired a critical home Repair Program Coordinator, we have completed 11 repairs to date in 2018, and are looking to expand that even further now.

Financials

Blue Ridge Habitat for Humanity
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Operations

The people, governance practices, and partners that make the organization tick.

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Connect with nonprofit leaders

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  • Analyze a variety of pre-calculated financial metrics
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  • Compare nonprofit financials to similar organizations

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Blue Ridge Habitat for Humanity

Board of directors
as of 11/01/2022
SOURCE: Self-reported by organization
Board chair

Mr. Greg Bowman

N/A

Term: 2020 - 2022

Board leadership practices

SOURCE: Self-reported by organization

GuideStar worked with BoardSource, the national leader in nonprofit board leadership and governance, to create this section.

  • Board orientation and education
    Does the board conduct a formal orientation for new board members and require all board members to sign a written agreement regarding their roles, responsibilities, and expectations? Yes
  • CEO oversight
    Has the board conducted a formal, written assessment of the chief executive within the past year ? Yes
  • Ethics and transparency
    Have the board and senior staff reviewed the conflict-of-interest policy and completed and signed disclosure statements in the past year? Yes
  • Board composition
    Does the board ensure an inclusive board member recruitment process that results in diversity of thought and leadership? Yes
  • Board performance
    Has the board conducted a formal, written self-assessment of its performance within the past three years? Yes

Organizational demographics

SOURCE: Self-reported; last updated 11/1/2022

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
White/Caucasian/European
Gender identity
Female, Not transgender (cisgender)
Sexual orientation
Gay, lesbian, bisexual, or other sexual orientations in the LGBTQIA+ community
Disability status
Person without a disability

Race & ethnicity

Gender identity

 

Sexual orientation

Disability

No data

Equity strategies

Last updated: 11/01/2022

GuideStar 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

Data
  • We analyze disaggregated data and root causes of race disparities that impact the organization's programs, portfolios, and the populations served.
  • We disaggregate data by demographics, including race, in every policy and program measured.
  • We have long-term strategic plans and measurable goals for creating a culture such that one’s race identity has no influence on how they fare within the organization.
Policies and processes
  • We seek individuals from various race backgrounds for board and executive director/CEO positions within our organization.
  • We have community representation at the board level, either on the board itself or through a community advisory board.