Greater Erie Area Habitat for Humanity selected for a Thrivent Builds Grant
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
ERIE, PA (Dec.5, 2011) –Greater Erie Area Habitat for Humanity learned recently that it has been awarded $34,375 to build one home in Erie.
This grant, providing 55 percent of the cost of construction, comes from Minneapolis-based Thrivent Financial for Lutherans’ unique partnership with Habitat for Humanity International: Thrivent Builds with Habitat for Humanity.
Greater Erie Area Habitat for Humanity is celebrating their award in conjunction with an international announcement made Dec. 5, 2011, in Minneapolis, Minn., when the partnership’s $160 million mark was surpassed with a $9.2 million commitment for 2012, the seventh year of a strong alliance between the two organizations.
Habitat for Humanity’s relationship with Thrivent Financial brings the financial, volunteer and advocacy resources of Thrivent Financial together with the affordable housing construction leadership of hundreds of local Habitat for Humanity affiliates. To date, more than 480,000 volunteers have donated more than three million hours to construct 1,600 homes in the U.S.
The 2012 commitment will fund the construction and rehabilitation of 142 Habitat for Humanity homes in 32 U.S. states, including the home built by Greater Erie Area Habitat in Erie, PA.
“The Thrivent Builds alliance is helping Greater Erie Area Habitat increase the number of families served in our community,” said Nancy Milkowski, Executive Director “We are so grateful for Thrivent’s support of our efforts to provide decent, affordable homes in partnership with families in need.”
The Greater Erie Area Habitat for Humanity has been active in the Erie community since 1989 and in this short period of time managed to build 55 homes for deserving, hard-working families. These houses are built by volunteers alongside the future homeowner which makes the labor costs negligible and helps keep the mortgages for the incoming families that much lower. The houses are sold to the families with mortgages but no interest due to be paid over time for up to 30 years.
The Greater Erie Area Habitat for Humanity is changing lives and communities and building hope through decent, simple homeownership in partnership with volunteers and community support.
Thrivent Builds with Habitat for Humanity is a multi-year, multi-million dollar partnership between Thrivent Financial for Lutherans and Habitat for Humanity International. Thrivent Builds is designed to involve Thrivent members and Lutherans in helping provide a “hand up” to people in need of affordable housing, offering them a path to greater economic independence. Excluding government funding, Thrivent Builds with Habitat for Humanity is Habitat's largest single source of funding, constructing more than 2,700 homes in the U.S. and around the world since 2005. For more information, visit ThriventBuilds.com.
Thrivent Financial for Lutherans is a not-for-profit, Fortune 500 financial services membership organization helping approximately 2.5 million members achieve financial security and give back to their communities. Thrivent Financial and its affiliates offer a broad range of financial products and services. As a not-for-profit organization, Thrivent Financial creates and supports national outreach programs and activities that help congregations, schools, charitable organizations and individuals in need. For more information, visit Thrivent.com. Also, you can find us on Facebook and Twitter.
Habitat for Humanity International is a global nonprofit Christian housing organization that seeks to put God’s love into action by bringing people together to build homes, communities and hope. Since 1976, Habitat has served more than 500,000 families by welcoming people of all races, religions and nationalities to construct, rehabilitate or preserve homes; by advocating for fair and just housing policies; and by providing training and access to resources to help families improve their shelter conditions. For more information, to donate or to volunteer, please visit www.habitat.org, or follow us at www.facebook.com/habitat or at www.twitter.com/habitat_org or join Habitat’s blog community at www.habitat.org/blog.
