Habitat for Humanity San Fernando/Santa Clarita Valleys has become one with its sister organization Homes 4 Families, board chairman Hunt Braly and president and CEO Donna Deutchman have announced. Under the newly merged organization, the non-profit will expand its veteran-specific housing model to provide services and homes beyond Los Angeles.
Homes 4 Families was originally launched in 2008 as a sister agency to the Habitat affiliate that was founded in 1990 to serve low-income families.
“We will now operate under the Homes 4 Families name to better focus on supporting low income veterans,” said Braly. Homes 4 Families pioneered the Enriched Neighborhood model, an innovative, outcome-proven program in which families gain access to comprehensive services in addition to permanent housing.
Five years ago, the organization’s board of directors and staff recognized the specific, unmet needs of low-income veterans and their families, and redirected their focus towards this population. Under the Homes 4 Families, the organization began a groundbreaking partnership with the California Department of Veterans Affairs (CalVet) to begin building homes for military veterans, servicemen, servicewomen and their families.
The impact has been astounding, the organization says in a news release.
With the support of CalVet, corporate sponsors and individual donors, Homes 4 Families says it has has built 144 homes in five “Enriched Neighborhoods” in Northern Los Angeles communities including Burbank, Santa Clarita, Pacoima, and Sylmar.
Homes 4 Families provides veterans with no-cost social services that equip them to succeed in civilian life, including financial education, therapeutic workshops, trauma-informed programs and veteran-to-veteran support. To date, Homes 4 Families has had zero foreclosures, with families receiving the full equity of their homes and seeing household incomes increase by an average of 19 per cent
Homes 4 Families is currently building 80 homes for families in Santa Clarita, Palmdale and North Hollywood, and the nonprofit organization is empowering low-income veterans and their families to enter the middle class through affordable homeownership or housing and holistic services that build resiliency, self-sufficiency and economic growth. The organization is now expanding its services geographically.
