About the Nonprofit
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Golden Crescent Habitat for Humanity, an affiliate of Habitat for Humanity International, is a nonprofit ecumenical ministry that helps build and repair simple, decent, affordable homes for people in need. It serves Dewitt, Goliad, Jackson, Lavaca, and Victoria Counties. Golden Crescent Habitat for Humanity was started in Victoria in 1994 and completed its first house in 1996. Modeled after an old-fashioned barn raising and using the biblical principle of not charging interest to a person in need, for almost 30 years GCHFH has been bringing donors and volunteers together to help our neighbors in need access safe, affordable housing.
The mission of GCHFH is to build homes, communities, and hope. The Construction Program is the primary driver of this mission, the true heart and soul of our organization. The Construction Program includes three areas of focus:
New Home Construction: The longest-running program at GCHFH, the new construction program is what started it all and is what most think of when they think of Habitat. Volunteers and the future GCHFH homeowners build the houses, which are funded by individuals, corporations, and churches. Qualified low-income families, earning between 35-80% of the area median income, purchase their homes at an affordable price with an affordable mortgage. These mortgages create a sustainable funding source for the organization and are used to help build additional houses for other needy families. The funds also offset operating costs ensuring the continued success of the organization and its mission.
A Brush With Kindness: A home rehabilitation program targeting low-income homeowners, this program mobilizes volunteers to conduct minor exterior home repairs aimed at stabilization. By stabilizing the homes through projects like exterior painting or the addition of handicap rails and ramps, A Brush With Kindness empowers vulnerable homeowners, almost always elderly or disabled earning less than 80% of area median income, to remain in their homes and avoid unsafe conditions or a forced move.
Veterans Repair Program: GCHFH’s Veterans Repair Program started out with Habitat ReBuilds - a response to Hurricane Harvey where GCHFH served 271 families with critical repairs caused by the storm. After seeing the need for critical repairs in our service area, the program was redesigned and is now serving veterans and surviving spouses in need of ADA modifications, weatherization projects and general home repairs. It is funded primarily through a partnership with the Texas Veterans Commission and the Texas State Affordable Housing Corporation to keep it sustainable as a free program.
For most households, homeownership remains the path to a brighter future. Americans with both the desire and the means choose homeownership when possible, for a simple reason: it is a proven method for compelling savings and building assets.
Every family served by the Construction Program is considered low-income. The harsh reality for these families is that no matter how hard they work, they are unable to get ahead in rental situations. Poverty becomes a generational obstacle, a cycle that is close to impossible to break without some sort of intervention. The Construction Program does not just build or repair houses, it provides an off-ramp from the constant instability of living paycheck to paycheck, of merely subsisting.
By stabilizing their house payment, the construction program stabilizes the core of a low-income family's life. When you stabilize housing, it creates a massive ripple effect as you stabilize their finances, while also stabilizing their physical and mental well-being.
The safe, affordable housing achieved through the Construction Program leads to improved savings, increased educational attainment and economic mobility, impacting not just this generation but generations to come.
As mentioned above, the Construction Program serves individuals and families qualified as low-income, meaning they earn anywhere between 35-80% of median income. Across our five-county service area, up to 17% of the population lives in poverty.
For these families, the numbers simply do not add up. 33% of the households in our area are renting. Fair market rent for a one-bedroom apartment is considered to be $837. In order to afford that rent, making minimum wage, an individual would have to work 89 hours a week.
If they are lucky enough to own a home and qualify for our Brush With Kindness or Veterans Repair Program, they likely inherited the home from a family member and severe budget restraints meaning that they cannot afford to insure or repair the home.
Who is our target population? Who is not earning enough to afford housing for their family in our community? The demographic ranges from cashiers to food service employees, from security guards to office admins, even VISD non-professional employees. As the housing inventory continues to decrease, construction costs increase, and overall inflation increases, wages just can't keep up. More and more people are unable to afford safe shelter. In Victoria, 23% of all households are burdened by housing costs, spending more than 30% of their income on rent or mortgage payments.
This describes on paper the families served but does little to tell their story. The families we serve range from single parents to elderly couples. All our families are hardworking and eager to partner, providing sweat equity on their home. These homeowner volunteer hours range from 300 hours per adult in our New Construction Program and between 5 and 20 hours in the Minor Repair Program depending on the scope of the repairs. Our families, from the tiniest babes to the elderly aging in place, are elated to have the chance to improve every aspect of their life through the opportunity to access safe, affordable shelter.
