Working in Whatcom County Since 1987, in Partnership with God and Community
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2015-2016 Annual Report WORKING IN WHATCOM COUNTY SINCE 1987, IN PARTNERSHIP WITH GOD AND COMMUNITY. PROVIDING SAFE, DECENT, AND AFFORDABLE HOUSING FOR PEOPLE IN NEED SO THAT FAMILIES CAN LIVE AND GROW INTO ALL1 THAT GOD INTENDS. Executive Director’s Message Meeting New Challenges The 2015/16 fiscal year was the By giving the homeowner a leasehold interest in the most challenging but most reward- 1 land rather than a fee simple ing year in my 8 year tenure as Ex- interest we were able to put the ecutive Director. At one end of the land into trust and remove its spectrum was the fact that we had cost from the purchase price. We only built one home and completed partnered with Kulshan Commu- only one Neighborhood Revitaliza- nity Land Trust to accomplish this, tion (NR) project. At the other end, reducing the price by $17,000. we laid the foundation to build 24 new homes over the next 5 years. By tweaking the local Habitat 2 Construction Standard the Two projects stalled due to circumstances beyond our Board of Directors was able to control and the Challenge of the Year became, “How allow a 2 bedroom build, which do we adapt as an organization, not only to meet the reduced the size of the home by need for safe, decent, affordable home ownership in 200 sq. ft., saving $20,000 in hard Whatcom County, but also to maintain affordability for costs. the most vulnerable in an increasingly Finally, and probably most importantly, Habitat regulated environ- 3 built this home to be super energy efficient, with ment?” expected heating bills of less than $20 per month, providing a monthly utility savings of over $50. Saving The Haxton Way $50 per month is equivalent to reducing the mortgage project was a amount by $18,000. By the grace of God and a vol- perfect example. unteer culture that never calls it quits, the Van Dyken The Habitat Partner familymoved into their new home by Christmas 2015. Family suffered ad- verse circumstanc- es and significantly reduced income due to deteriorat- ing health. At the same time, build costs for the project rose thanks to unanticipated environmental reporting requirements. Affordability for the family was moving out of reach. We tried the most obvious solutions first, but Habitat House Design Standards prohibited building a smaller home, and new lending regulations discouraged ex- tending the length of the mortgage loan. After putting in over 400 sweat equity hours the family could no lon- ger afford mortgage payments for a typical 3 bedroom These adaptive strategies incubated a special opti- home even with monthly payments based on cost with mism that led to the purchase of 2.5 acres on Tele- 0% interest. This scenario not only posed a devastat- graph Road in partneship with Kulshan Community ing dilemma for our partner family but threatened to Land Trust, which is expected to yield 24 new homes undermine the Habitat affordability model. between mid-2017 and 2020. Much more to come! A combination of three strategies allowed us to adapt. 2 Year in Review Habitat Store Recap The second full year of operations for the Habitat n Saturday, May 14th Store at the Cornwall Avenue location was a banner Owe held our 14th year in many respects. Store Revenues grew by over annual auction in our $189,000 in Fiscal Year 2015/16 and net proceeds home, the Habitat Store. to the mission grew by $36,409, an amazing 117% The central portion of the increase over the previous year. Individual Store floor space was cleared donors surpassed the 4,000 mark providing an by moving items off to average of $121 per donation, a 14% increase in the sides or into storage average value over the previous year. containers parked on the side of the building. We set tables for 200 and dis- played decorative balloon sculptures created by Partner Homebuyers Aracely and Eliezer Santiago-Reyes. Guests were surrounded with artwork drawn by 3rd graders from Columbia and Wade King Elementary schools under the direction of artist and community leader Susie Cole. Habi- tat Homebuyer Linda Clow and her friends from Acme made and served the delicious hors d’oeuvres that were accompanied with wine donated by Bellingham Grocery In August of 2015 we made two bold decisions: Outlet, beer by Boundary Bay Brewery, soda by Walton Beverage, and coffee by Woods • Close the store on Mondays to focus on (1) Coffee. Habitat Homebuy- employee training and (2) processing the ever ers Jim and Danielle Carlson increasing number of daily donations. This was served beverages. Throughout a counter-intuitive move for a retail operation. the evening everyone enjoyed But the strategy paid off immediately, yielding the music of jazz trio, Triage, double digit sales increases on a monthly basis with Johnny Toulouse on and a 64% overall increase for the entire year. guitar, Mac Jaffe on bass, and Nathan Oliver on drums. • Increase both the store and affiliate minimum wage to $15 per hour as sales growth permit- What an evening we had! Well- ted. More on this later. known local entreprenuer, Michael Watters, graced us with his wit, booming voice, and talents as our auctioneer. Assistant Managers Tyla Reyes (top) Thanks to him and all the volunteers who solicited live and Barbara Bonsaing (bottom) both and silent auction items, we netted $46,000. celebrated their 5th year of employ- ment. We celebrated along with them, With a room full of laughter, guests had a good time play- as these two bring much needed ing different games during the auction. A highlight was institutional knowledge and consis- the Heads or Tails game officiated by Angela Ramous, Miss tency to core operations. Whatcom County 2016. Finally, consistent with the super en- We wish to express our sincerest ergy efficient “Habitat Passive” homes thanks to WWU student, Alic Tung, for being built by the construction crew, the store up- having volunteered countless hours as graded its lighting by taking out all the fluorescent chairperson of the auction committee bulbs and replacing them with LED lighting. With a as well as to our sponsors, guests, and $12,000 grant from PSE and $20,000 in professional the many volunteers who supported labor donated by IBEW #19, our electricity and bulb this event. Thank you! replacement costs have been reduced by over $360 per month. That’s improvement! 3 Year in Review Volunteer Profile: Bob Matthes A retired engineer, Bob Mat- thes has worked as a volun- teer since 2009. Prior to that, he volunteered with Habitat affiliates in Missouri and Iowa. Though he’s no stranger to the construc- tion site, he enjoys working in the store because there’s plenty to do year-round. He loves the fact that Habitat uses materials that would other- wise go to a landfill, and also loves that the store Repairing & Rehabbing provides employment opportunities for local residents. “I’ve always thought of Habitat as a The affiliate served an additional 2 families in 2015/16 worthy cause and something we volunteers can through the Neighborhood Revitalization (NR) program. be very proud of. There’s something tangible NR seeks to keep very low-income homeowners in their we’re producing. There’s something to celebrate home using the same criteria as the new home program. several times a year.” He wants those considering Applicants are selected on income, need, credit, and volunteering with Habitat to know that there Willingness to Partner. Repairs are billed at cost and, if are plenty of opportunities beyond the build necessary, financed at 0% with payment amount and site and that, “This is really a chance to change number of payments structured to keep total household people’s lives.” We’re lucky to have the kind of debt below 40%. A repair project in Everson kept a family dedication and positivity Bob provides! of 5 in their home and a rehab project in Sumas provided a homeownership opportunity for a family of 6. Homebuyer Profile: Linda Habitat Pays Living Wage Clow Moving the Habitat Store to the Cornwall location Linda Clow, mother of 3 and has been a good decision and a blessing. Gross sales grandmother to another increased $189,310 over the previous year, providing 3, has lived in Acme since much needed financial support for the affiliate’s new 1977. She drove a bus for home and repair programs. But there was a caveat: Mt.Baker School District yes, we were providing safe, decent affordable homes through our program activities, but our median store for 27 years. In the 1920’s Acme was a logging wage of $10/hour put our employees in the category of camp. Her home was initially created by attach- households that were struggling to make ends meet in ing two of the camp bunkhouses together. Over Whatcom County. The Board of Directors, in pioneering the years additions were made and her already fashion, decided to increase wages as store revenue patched-together house was eventually marked increased. Starting Sept. 2015, minimum wage for for demolition due to instability. An experienced Habitat employees steadily increased until May 2016 Habitat volunteer, Linda knew who to call. She when we surpassed our store sales goals and instituted joined our roster of Partner Homebuyers in early a $15/hour starting wage (upon successful completion 2016 and got to work on her sweat equity hours. of the probationary period). The additional cost is about Linda’s new home will be built on her land $150,000/year or the approximate cost of one Habitat home.