On May 12th of every year, each and every Keller Williams office and agent around the country close their doors, turn off their phone, and mute their emails for RED Day. RED Day is where we take a day to Renew, Energize, and Donate within the communities we serve. The Welcome Home Team along with Keller Williams Realty Naples headed over to Habitat for Humanity to paint houses for low-income families.
For many years now, our team and Keller Williams Realty Naples have been working with Habitat for Humanity, and this year was very special to all of us. In 2021, in the midst of the pandemic, our team was still able to make it out to the newest Habitat for Humanity community off of Santa Barbara Blvd. We worked together to build the foundation of the houses with every intention of families moving in at the end of the year. When the pandemic swept through the country and rattled inventory for housing, the community project was slowed down. This year, we were able to head back to the community to put the finishing touches on the first 44 houses that are just about ready for their newest residents.
Habitat for Humanity was founded in 1976 with the goal to bring attention and awareness to the poor housing conditions crisis across the country. Now with a global reach, Habitat for Humanity is in every country of the United States and 70 countries around the world! Here in Collier County, there are almost 20 full communities abundant with families who are prospering in their lives. The way that Habitat for Humanity works is quite simple actually, a family who is in need of affordable, safe housing applies. There are an average of 14 applications per house built by the organization. The organization then interviews each applicant, tours their current living situation, and then selects the family from there. That family must then complete 500 hours of service directly to Habitat for Humanity, as these hours go directly into the family building their own home! Once the home is complete, the family gets to move in! Now you might be thinking, they get the home for free? Not exactly. A traditional mortgage rate is based initially around your household income, and then you can purchase a home in that price range. At Habitat for Humanity, the family pays what they can afford based off of total household income for 30 years! That means that the family doesn’t have to struggle with high rental rates or varying expenses, they always know what they can afford because of their mortgage agreement. What is also really interesting about Habitat for Humanity is that when a person is able to afford to move out of their Habitat home, they have the opportunity to gain equity on the house. If they sell their house within the first 5 years of living in the home, they receive a 15% equity cut from the sale of the home. After 10 years of living in the home, the family can get 50% of the equity. And after the full 30 years, the families will get 100% of the equity!
Habitat for Humanity does so much for their residents financially by supporting them, but the organization also supports the local community as well! These communities were built to create a sense of belongingness in one place. Most homes in a Habitat community are families with many children running all around. This means that most of the children will attend the same schools and then go home with their friends as well! This stability in the children’s lives both by having a place to live and attending a school with people they know has shown to increase the overall grade point average amongst all the Collier County schools.
RED Day at Keller Williams allows our team to take a moment and be thankful for what we have and what we have been able to achieve each and every day. By partnering with Habitat for Humanity, we are able to give back to our community and continue to work hard for everyone around us.
If you or anyone you know is interested in getting involved with Habitat for Humanity, or their sister organization Habitat NextGen for young professionals, head to https://www.habitatcollier.org/volunteer/ or https://www.habitatcollier.org/nextgen/