Habitat for Humanity Portland Region

As a result of our organization's 5-Year Strategic Plan, we seek to triple the number of people we serve by the year 2021. That means every year we will be helping more than 1,500 people to access safe, affordable and stable housing on a permanent basis. Below are some key highlights:

• Build and rehab 175 homes for first-time homebuyers
• Provide critical home repairs on 160 owner-occupied homes
• Purchase and develop 200 lots that will retain permanent affordability into the future
• Engage the community in 25,000 volunteer opportunities, more than doubling annual volunteer engagement
• Reduce racial disparities in homeownership with at least 80% of all new Habitat homebuyers being people of color
• Expand Neighborhood Revitalization Program to two focus neighborhoods
• Expand our homeowner education program to include comprehensive post-purchase education that supports financial well-being and home maintenance.
• Open three additional ReStores, increasing annual profit by 50%
• Inspire Habitat supporters to advocate for smart housing policies and systems
• Support Habitat’s global mission by building 280 homes in Ethiopia and El Salvador

By offering a varied source of programs that seek to serve our community holistically and at greater scale, we are reimagining and invigorating the services we provide.

Habitat for Humanity provides a unique opportunity for hardworking people and families to build and buy their own homes. Our houses are sold at no profit to our partner homeowners with an affordable mortgage. The mortgage lengths vary depending on income; Habitat adjusts the length of the mortgage so that the monthly mortgage payment (which includes taxes, insurance, and condo fees, if applicable) is no more than 30% of the homeowner’s gross monthly income at the time of sale. Habitat for Humanity homeowner mortgage payments are put into a revolving fund that helps pay for construction of future houses in the Portland/Metro East community. The pre-approval selection of homeowners who will purchase houses from Habitat for Humanity Portland/Metro East is done by the Family Selection Committee in a way that does not discriminate because of race, color, religion, sex, handicap, familial status, sexual orientation, age, gender identity or national origin. We also do not discriminate because all or part of the applicant’s income is derived from public assistance programs.

The Home Repair and Preservation Program helps low-income homeowners located in Cully, Habitat’s current Neighborhood Revitalization Initiative (NRI) focus neighborhood, restore and maintain their homes. Habitat will partner with homeowners to alleviate critical health and safety issues and complete needed home improvement projects. This program is part of the Neighborhood Revitalization Initiative’s long-term commitment to revitalizing Cully in partnership with residents and Living Cully nonprofit partners. While new home construction remains at the core of what we do, Habitat cannot transform neighborhoods through new construction alone. By launching NRI, we are able to work more intensively within a neighborhood to meet resident needs and aspirations, ultimately improving the quality of life for not only residents of these neighborhoods, but for the city as a whole.

Habitat will improve the lives of families through new services:

• New Home Construction: Address the need to create new affordable homeownership opportunities in the focus area.
• Rehabs: Addresses the glut of abandoned or foreclosed properties by restoring homes and selling to hardworking families.
• Critical Home Repair: Addresses extensive interior and exterior repairs for existing low-income homeowners. This may include roof replacement, electrical and plumbing, and handicap accessibility renovations to address health and safety concerns.
• Home Preservation: Preserves the exterior of homes by focusing on minor repairs, painting and landscaping.
• Weatherization: Improves energy efficiency and indoor air quality for existing low-income homeowners.

Habitat's ability of reaching greater goals lie in our skill at adapting to changing markets and incorporating more innovative and effective ideas. Through innovation we will be implementing a new business model that will offer greater impact. Below are some of the new ways we are working to accomplish our goals.

A new way to lend: Historically Habitat has been the bank, providing affordable mortgages to families who then made payments back to Habitat over the course of 30 years. Now we will partner with community-focused banks that are longtime supporters of Habitat’s work to provide affordable mortgages to Habitat homebuyers. The funds Habitat receives at closing will be immediately invested in creating additional homeownership opportunities with families in need of a decent place to live.

A new way to plan for the future: Portland’s housing market is booming, requiring us to quickly find ways to become better stewards of our land and more intentional about how Portland grows. Habitat is committed to a Portland that is affordable to hardworking, low-income families—not just today, but for generations to come. Our new permanent-affordability model will allow Habitat homeowners to continue building equity in their homes, and it also ensures the home is affordable to the next buyer. This guarantees affordable neighborhoods into the future.

A new way to strengthen communities: We are working with hardworking, underserved families on their journey to homeownership. The average Habitat homeowner earns $35,000 annually. While Habitat will continue to focus on homebuyers with low incomes, we will begin providing homeownership opportunities to families earning up to $55,000, identified by partner nonprofit housing organizations. This is a response to a housing market that is unaffordable to a majority of Portland’s working families. This will also create mixed-income communities that studies indicate have the highest long-term likelihood of building strength and stability.

A new way to advocate: We are investing in advocacy efforts that further our goal of providing access to affordable homeownership. Advocates will ensure that our housing crisis is front and center in the hearts and minds of elected officials along with the importance of investing in the entire continuum of housing that Portland needs to be a thriving and diverse community.

A new way to advance equity, diversity & inclusion: We are committed to creating opportunities for all people to reach their full potential. An equity analysis will inform a comprehensive, organization-wide equity plan. From examining our hiring and board recruitment processes, to strengthening our team by investing in ongoing diversity and equity education, this work will be deeply ingrained in our organization.

Thanks to support from the community, we're on track to reach our goals and have established a solid foundation from which to build exponential growth. Last year alone, 78 people experienced strength and stability through Habitat’s affordable homeownership and repair programs. We also have 34 new homes are under construction, as we seek to build high quality, energy efficient houses that will serve homeowners for years to come. Additionally, 10 homes have been repaired over the past year. Home repairs are critical to the prevention
of further displacement of low-income homeowners. From roof replacements to replacing windows and doors, we provide a variety of repairs that stabilize homeowners in the Cully neighborhood. Habitat was able to buy and rehabilitate 5 vacant houses to create affordable, stable
homeownership for qualified low-income families. And speaking to our commitment and vision to create a world where everyone, everywhere has a decent and affordable place to call home, we were able to build 44 homes with our sister affiliates in El Salvador and Ethiopia. We see great strides happening in our city and we are excited to continue this growth well into the future.