Habitat for Humanity Southern Alberta

About Habitat for Humanity Southern Alberta:

Habitat for Humanity Southern Alberta (HFHSA) was established in 1990 and consists of Chapters from Calgary, Medicine Hat, Brooks District, Foothills and Mountain View County. HFHSA offers help to hard-working families in breaking the cycle of poverty, often intergenerational, providing interest-free mortgages to families who could otherwise never buy their own home. Each Chapter plans and manages its Habitat build projects, including raising funds, organizing volunteers, selecting partner families and working with community partners. Homeowners are selected on the basis of need and their willingness to partner. They must live in sub-standard housing, have the ability to pay a mortgage and meet the obligations of homeownership, and must be able to invest a minimum of 500 hours of labour (sweat equity) as their down-payment.

Along with the Home Building program, HFHSA also offers the Habitat ReStore, which sells new and slightly used building materials and home products at 40% to 60% off retail prices. In F2014, the ReStores donated more than $1.5m to Habitat for Humanity and diverted more than 170,000 pounds of waste from city landfills. HFHSA also runs the PEAK program, which assists public sector workers, essential workers (police officers, healthcare workers, etc.), and key workers (non-profit employees, tradespeople, etc.) in qualifying for a mortgage.

Financial Review:

Administrative costs are 14% of revenue while fundraising costs are 9% of donations (including donated goods in kind). Funding reserves are $1.5m (net of $2.4m in revolving loans and capital lease obligations) which cover 43% of annual program costs (excluding the cost of donated goods).