The Rocket Community Fund, the philanthropic arm of Rocket Mortgage, recently announced a donation of $545,000 to Habitat for Humanity in support of Habitat’s neighborhood revitalization program, an essential element of the housing nonprofit’s work in the United States. Rocket Community Fund’s contribution will provide local Habitat organizations serving their home cities, Cleveland, Ohio and Phoenix, Ariz., and Charlotte, N.C., with funds to meet the specific housing needs of their communities and help more families recover from the worsened housing crisis and economic turmoil caused by the COVID-19 pandemic.
Habitat for Humanity’s neighborhood revitalization efforts are tailored to local communities and completed in collaboration with community leaders and organizations who have an active presence and role in improving their neighborhoods. Habitat utilizes an outcomes-driven framework, in partnership with residents and others, to understand local conditions and collaboratively develop solutions to improve quality of life. This is the sixth year the Rocket Community Fund is supporting Habitat’s neighborhood revitalization efforts. To date, Rocket Community Fund has donated over $3 million to Habitat to support communities through this program.
“We believe that every American should have access to a healthy, stable home,” said Laura Grannemann, vice president of Strategic Investments for the Rocket Community Fund. “COVID-19 has impacted all of us, but those without the foundation of a home are particularly vulnerable to the turbulence of this time. Through our partnership with Habitat for Humanity, we are proud to build access to the economic opportunity and resiliency that comes with homeownership.”
Even before the spread of the COVID-19 virus, more than 18 million families in the U.S. were already paying half or more of their income on housing. Now, with multiplied unemployment rates and significant decreases in household incomes, millions of families are faced with impossible choices between trying to pay their rent or mortgage and other essential bills. The Rocket Community Fund’s donation will help Habitat partner with more families to achieve and maintain housing stability during and after the pandemic.
“The COVID-19 pandemic required us to find alternative ways to continue serving families, and we were reassured by the Rocket Community Fund’s response to help us do so,” said Tawkiyah Jordan, senior director of housing and community strategy at Habitat for Humanity International. “Together, we partnered with residents to co-create targeted responses that address urgent housing needs in three key communities. Rocket Community Fund’s contributions have been significant in furthering our mission by helping provide families with the peace of mind homeownership brings.”
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