They were working hard, paying their bills and providing for their families. They had achieved the American dream of home ownership in one the country’s costliest housing markets.
And then the coronavirus struck.
In a community where about half of our workforce was already living paycheck to paycheck, this crisis has pushed many Broward families to the brink of economic despair.
That includes about 40 percent of the 500 homeowners served by Habitat for Humanity of Broward who have been furloughed, laid off or had their wages cut due to the coronavirus. Now they find themselves unable to pay the mortgage on the home they’ve worked for their entire lives.
But help is coming, thanks to an $88,200 emergency grant from the Community Foundation of Broward. With this infusion of support, Habitat for Humanity will be able to offer much-needed counseling, mortgage relief and emergency assistance to families impacted by the crisis.
"Each day we learn that more and more of our families are experiencing total layoffs, cuts in pay and the prospect of no pay," said Nancy Robyn, CEO of Habitat for Humanity of Broward. "This grant will help fill the gap for families who have served our community faithfully and earned regular wages, yet who now find themselves under served and at risk."
The emergency grant is a continuation of the 30+ year collaboration between Habitat for Humanity and the Community Foundation to help more hardworking families achieve Economic Independence through homeownership. A Community Foundation grant helped build Habitat for Humanity of Broward’s first home. And today a $1 million grant from the Mary N. Porter Legacy Fund at the Foundation is helping build Habitat for Humanity’s largest ever neighborhood in Broward – 77 homes in Pompano Beach.
The crisis support for Habitat for Humanity is one example of the bold impact from seven new emergency grants awarded as part of the Community Foundation’s ongoing response to the coronavirus. These new grants, totaling $500,000, support nonprofit organizations working on the front lines to help local residents survive this crisis.
And prior to this new wave of grants, the Foundation provided more than $1 million in immediate crisis support by releasing restrictions on existing grants to help nonprofits facing the local effects of the coronavirus.
“Broward nonprofits are under intense pressure to meet immediate critical needs in our community as a result of the coronavirus pandemic and its health-related and economic impacts,” said Linda B. Carter, President of Community Foundation of Broward.
Philanthropists with endowed charitable Funds at the Community Foundation have made it possible to deliver crucial crisis relief quickly to nonprofits, directed where it’s needed the most to face the coronavirus.
And this is just the beginning of the bold impact of local philanthropy.
The local consequences of the coronavirus are still unfolding and will be with us for years to come. Because endowed resources can last forever, the Community Foundation will be there to identify and invest in the long-term solutions Broward needs – during this crisis and beyond.
The new coronavirus response grants were made possible by support from the following charitable Funds at the Community Foundation of Broward:
- Kearns Family Foundation Fund
- August Urbanek Family Fund
- Marlene Holder Fund for Broward
- Jan Moran Unrestricted Fund
- David and Francie Horvitz Family Fund
- Barbara and Michael G. Landry Fund for Broward
- Herschell and Margo Lewis Fund
- Drial Foundation Fund
- Mary N. Porter Community Impact Fund
- Mary and Alex Mackenzie Community Impact Fund
- Bank of America Unrestricted Fund
- Community Impact Fund
For more information about the Community Foundation of Broward, contact info@cfbroward.org or 954-761-9503.
