Habitat for Humanity Collier County

HABITAT FOR HUMANITY OF COLLIER COUNTY, INC seeks to create decent,
affordable housing in partnership with those in need and to make shelter a
matter of conscience with people everywhere. The ultimate goal of Habitat for Humanity is to eliminate poverty
housing and homelessness from the face of the earth by building adequate and
basic housing. Furthermore, all of our
words and actions are for the purpose of putting shelter on the hearts and
minds of people in such a powerful way that poverty housing and homelessness
become socially, politically and religiously unacceptable in our nation and
world.

CORE TENENTS

Christian Identity: Habitat for Humanity of Collier County is an organization based on
Christian principles committed to witness to the love and teachings of Jesus
Christ. This affiliate will partner with
people regardless of faith. Homeownership:Habitat for Humanity of Collier County is committed to homeownership
through the use of available resources including volunteers and a no-profit
mortgage. Homeowner Selection:Habitat for Humanity of Collier County intends to sell homes to
low-income families in need who have ability to repay a mortgage and are
willing to partner with Habitat for Humanity. Need will be evaluated in the context of this affiliate’s service area
median income. Sweat Equity: Habitat for Humanity of Collier County will require sweat equity of
partner families with whom the affiliate will build safe, decent and affordable
housing. Tithe:Habitat for Humanity of Collier County will participate in the tithe. Integrity:Habitat for Humanity of Collier County will operate as a nonprofit with
the highest integrity in a non-discriminatory manner in accordance with
applicable laws.

Create strategic balance between the scriptural principles upon which HFH Collier is founded AND the needs of operating a
big business. One should not be pursued to the detriment
of the other.  Build at least 100 homes per year and strengthen:a.) home owner
affinityb.) financial strengthc.) community recognitiond.) broad donor
support   Serve The Need for Affordable Housing1) Encourage homeowners to be responsible by paying their mortgages on time and running effective HOA’s. 2)19 families inquire for every one home we are able to fund and build. We must rigorously evaluate each applicant against the Selection Criteria of: a.) need  b.) ability to pay their mortgage c.) willingness to partner with Habitat3) Update home styles to improve applicant
desirability and community relations. 4) Continue the Purchase Order program. Efficiently negotiate with suppliers through long
term contracts and procurement practices. 

Improve Financial StrengthExpand the
donor population. Establish a goal for the
number of new donors and dollars raised from them. Evaluate monthly.Utilize board member contacts to
identify and develop new donors. Invite new donors to Habi-tours, dedications and cocktail parties.  Retain outside professionals to recommend ways to capture future
donors. Study new donors to learn what motivates them. Apply learning to attract additional new donors.Draw conclusions from Success Measures to support our appeal to donors. 

Utilize successful Matching
Programs to increase financial support.  Evaluate opportunities for new matching challenges.

Improve Donor Retention Set goals for donor retention.Conduct donor interviews to understand behavior. Consider volunteer
participation to leverage staff and increase
the number of interviews conducted. Meet with significant
lapsed or decreasing donors to understand issues. 
Improve
State and Local Community AdvocacyCommunicate HFH Collier successes AND
challenges.Continue meeting with county
leadership.Present at Real Estate Broker meetings.Develop advocates as they are first
to see new people in the county.Develop Leadership and StaffBuild on strong leadership
and track record to ensure we are prepared for future challenges. Clarify the roles of each staff
member so each understands his or her role. Foster a spirit of respect for each person's role. Balance work loads to keep staff fresh and avoid burn-out. Conduct staff meetings to promote communications and team work. Promote mission and cross train staff through builds, selection visits dedications, fund raisers.  Require
each staff member attend a build event and a selection visit each year. For larger decisions, improve evaluation process. Foster A Spirit of Innovation Continue to build on HFH Collier's strong track record of identifying and
implementing new ideas. Attend the national conference and implement best practices. Interview other affiliates and seek
ideas for areas to improve.

In the past 45 years, Habitat for Humanity of
Collier County has completed over 2,500  houses.  
There are more than 1,000 Habitat affiliates in the country and Collier
County is one of the oldest, largest and highest producing. There are Habitat international affiliates in 80 countries around the world.  More than 22 million people now have built or improved the place they call home because of
Habitat’s work around the world. As each homeowner family
invests their own labor into the building of their home and in the homes of
other families, they reduce the cost of the house, increase their pride in
ownership, and begin the development of positive community relationships. Volunteers are a critical
part of the Habitat process. Habitat volunteers, like Habitat homeowner families, are of
widely varied ages, cultures and religious persuasions. Some volunteers are
skilled carpenters and others have rarely held a hammer. They are men, women, singles, couples; who in
some cases are people of great economic privilege and in other cases are those
who have known few advantages. Actually seeing the
difference that a Habitat home makes in a
community is enough to keep our volunteers coming back. They realize how important their donations of
time and money are to the people that they are helping and they see the results.

Locally, more than 2,500 homes have been built and this is certainly to be celebrated. To date, we have completed ten Habitat communities in Collier County with several additional neighborhoods under construction. And yet, there remains much to be done.  Annual surveys by the Lastinger Center for Housing at the University of Florida note that Collier County has a deficit of nearly 20,000 units of affordable workforce housing.  While we are able to build new homes, the substandard, overcrowded and cost-burdened conditions that families once occupied are simply turned over to another family as the previous one vacates.  This is the critical role of advocacy and education, a process to which we are fully committed.