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Habitat for Humanity Philadelphia
Tom Mahon
Director of Marketing and Communications
tomm@habitatphiladelphia.org
Habitat for Humanity Philadelphia, Habitat for Humanity International and 83 Habitat affiliates receive transformational $436M gift from MacKenzie Scott
Habitat for Humanity Philadelphia will use gift to address affordable housing shortage in the city.
PHILADELPHIA, PA (March 22, 2022) — Habitat for Humanity Philadelphia, along with Habitat for Humanity International, and 83 U.S. Habitat affiliate organizations, recently received $436 million in unrestricted giving from American author and philanthropist MacKenzie Scott. Of this larger gift, Habitat Philadelphia received $5 million.
“This transformational $5 million represents so much more than a generous donation,” said Corinne O’Connell, CEO of Habitat for Humanity Philadelphia. “With this catalytic gift, MacKenzie Scott is signaling that she believes in Habitat Philadelphia’s vision of a city where everyone has a decent place to live.”
Over the next few years, Habitat Philadelphia will use its $5 million portion of the donation to build and repair more homes, invest in technology and resources that will accelerate its growth, and continue to prioritize advocacy and programmatic efforts designed to dismantle systemic racism in housing. Crucially, it will fuel the organization to work more quickly.
“This gift allows us to never pause,” said O’Connell. “There are always roadblocks in this work, but throughout our history we have been scrappy, determined, exhausted, infuriated, motivated, and relentless in pursuit of our mission. This unrestricted support will allow us to move immediately from one project to the next, and work alongside more Philadelphia families to ensure they have a safe, warm, and dry place to call home.”
The housing crisis in Philadelphia is exacerbated by the city’s high poverty rate. In Philadelphia, 23% of residents face poverty and more than 121,000 families live in homes that are deemed inadequate in our region.
“I was overwhelmed with joy to see our hard work pay off,” said Habitat Philadelphia Homeowner and Board Member Tamika Artis. “We’ve been grinding to get affordable housing to folks who need it, and this seemed to come just in time. Being a homeowner has completely changed my way of thinking and it feels great as a board member to know that this will allow others to put the key in their own door and have that same experience. It feels like we must be doing something right.”
“Habitat works to break down barriers and bring people together — to tear down obstacles and build a world where everyone, no matter who we are or where we come from, has a decent place to live,” said Habitat for Humanity International CEO Jonathan Reckford. “This incredible gift helps make that work possible.”
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About Habitat for Humanity Philadelphia
Habitat for Humanity Philadelphia builds strength, stability, and self-reliance through shelter. Habitat for Humanity Philadelphia transforms lives and our city by building and repairing quality homes in partnership with families in need and by uniting all Philadelphians around the cause of affordable housing. Since 1985, Habitat for Humanity Philadelphia has built and sold 244 energy-efficient homes to first-time homeowners, and strategically partnered with nearly 700 homeowners and their families to provide critical home repairs. For more information, visit www.habitatphiladelphia.org.
About Habitat for Humanity International
Driven by the vision that everyone needs a decent place to live, Habitat for Humanity found its earliest inspirations as a grassroots movement on an interracial community farm in south Georgia. Since its founding in 1976, the Christian housing organization has grown to become a leading global nonprofit working in local communities across all 50 states in the U.S. and in more than 70 countries. Families and individuals in need of a hand up partner with Habitat for Humanity to build or improve a place they can call home. Habitat homeowners help build their own homes alongside volunteers and pay an affordable mortgage. Through financial support, volunteering or adding a voice to support affordable housing, everyone can help families achieve the strength, stability and self-reliance they need to build better lives for themselves. Through shelter, we empower. To learn more, visit habitat.org.
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