Building a brighter future for Broward sometimes means actually picking up a hammer and getting to work.
Community Foundation of Broward Board Members past and present were among 49 local business leaders who recently stepped up to help build affordable housing for hardworking families in Pompano Beach.
They donned hard hats, boots and work gloves to participate in Habitat for Humanity of Broward’s second annual CEO Build event on May 15. Working side-by-side with future homeowners and other volunteers, these local leaders helped build homes in a new neighborhood called A Rick Case Habitat Community.
Rita Case – a former Community Foundation Board Member – was there to lend a hand in the new neighborhood that she and her late husband, Rick, have helped make possible with their generous support.
Community Foundation Board Chair James Donnelly, of the Castle Group; Board Member Dev Motwani, of Merrimac Ventures; and former Board Chair Steven W. Hudson, of Hudson Capital Group volunteered their labor at the event, which included special precautions to keep volunteers safe during the pandemic.
In addition to helping with construction, the high-profile volunteers at Habitat’s CEO Build raised awareness about the need to create more opportunities for low-income residents to achieve homeownership in Broward’s pricey housing market.
“Without stable affordable workforce housing like that which Habitat provides, families cannot invest in their health, education and other strategies for greater life success,” Steven W. Hudson said.
The Community Foundation for more than three decades has partnered with Habitat For Humanity to help local residents achieve homeownership.
A grant from the Community Foundation helped build Habitat’s first home in Broward. And a $1 million grant from the Mary N. Porter Legacy Fund at the Community Foundation jump-started construction at Habitat’s new 77-home neighborhood under construction in Pompano Beach.
Mary N. Porter's estate gift helped pour the foundations for homes as well as construct water and sewer lines, electrical lines and other infrastructure at the new neighborhood – where homes are priced for hardworking families living paycheck to paycheck.
Support for affordable housing is just one of the ways that Fundholders at the Community Foundation champion Economic Independence – philanthropy that empowers struggling residents to become self-sufficient.
The economic repercussions of the pandemic make it even harder for struggling residents to break the cycle of poverty. Before the pandemic hit, Habitat estimated that one in seven households spent more than half of their income on housing. Now that’s estimated to be one in four.
Habitat is in the process of accepting applications for 38 additional workforce homes in Broward. Click here to learn more about how residents can apply.
To find out how you can help struggling families become self-sufficient, contact Vice President of Philanthropic Services Nancy Thies at nthies@cfbroward.org or 954-761-9503.
