JUNE 2020
As a supporter of Habitat for Humanity of Monroe County, you have helped create physical homes for over 740 people. You have advanced the vision of a world where everyone has a decent place to live, regardless of race, religion, ethnicity, gender identity or nationality. In so doing, you have provided a safe place for people to be who they are, as they are.
 
Your support extends to the work Habitat is doing during the pandemic for families whose income has been impacted. In May, 24 percent of homeowners were unable to make their payments and Habitat continues to provide mortgage relief. We are also helping families identify local, state and federal resources, so that they can avoid healthcare and food crises.
 
Let’s continue to move the conversation forward, demand change and uplift people of color. Support local minority-owned businesses. Amplify the voices of those who have different experiences than you. Evaluate your hiring practices. Educate yourself and act. Remember that our freedom does not need to come at the cost of marginalizing people of color, let alone inciting violence against them. We can’t undo the past, but we must ensure a future filled with opportunity and equality for all people.
 
Racial inequity can be found in every aspect of our daily lives: employment, household wealth, education, health outcomes, food security, lending and housing. A recent Washington Post article stated that “only 44 percent of black households own their homes compared with nearly 74 percent of whites.” The discrepancy in homeownership is deeply rooted in intentional segregation across the decades, as detailed by Richard Rothstein in The Color of Law.
 
The COVID-19 pandemic has served to magnify racial disparities and threatens already vulnerable populations in our country. Locally, Habitat is seeing the impact of the COVID-19 crisis on our families. A disproportionate number of our homeowners who are out of work are people of color.
 
If you are interested in research and policies related to racial disparities in homeownership, I recommend reading the ongoing work of the Urban Institute .
 
Let’s continue this critical work together, as we build homes and hope.
Wendi Goodlett
President and CEO, Habitat for Humanity of Monroe County
Purchase a limited edition Women Build shirt and help support safe and secure housing in Monroe County! We are selling these two shirts for only two weeks and you can have them shipped or locally delivered.

Show your Women Build love by sporting the logo that will be on the official builder tees earned by Women Build team members. Order online today!
Help us restock our ReStore! We have now opened up limited donation drop-off hours during the week (Tues.- Fri, 3-5:00, Sat., 2-4:00). For now, we won't be accepting houseware items (home decor, dishware, cookware, textiles, etc) and will have limitations on the upholstered furniture we can take. We are in great need of larger furniture items, building materials and appliances.

You also can schedule a pickup online today, or check us out on Facebook for more details on drop-off donation procedures.
This past year,  Kilroy's on Kirkwood  (a member of our Breaking Bread food donation Club) has been incredibly generous in regularly donating lunches for our build site keeping our volunteers well fed and cared for! They also recently supported us through an online "T-shirt Thursday" providing a donation directly to our Habitat Affiliate.
A special thank you to the  Unitarian Universalist C hurch of Bloomington   for the grant funding they awarded us to help purchase PPE for our build sites. We're truly grateful for the support and the ongoing advocacy of their  Habitat Task Force  in helping us to plan to safely resume construction.
A special thank you to the  Community Foundation of Bloomington and Monroe County  for their rapid relief grant funding which we immediately put to use by purchasing masks, gloves, hand sanitizer (and more!) to help protect our staff and customers at the  Habitat for Humanity ReStore  as we reopened to the public. They have been at the forefront of helping local businesses and organizations during the COVID crisis and we grateful for their partnership!
For some information on the considerations and implications for racial equity, homeownership, and wealth building presented by the current pandemic please check out the study, How Economic Crises and Sudden Disasters Increase Racial Disparities in Homeownership by Michael Neal and Alanna McCargo.