Habitat for Humanity Chicago (Habitat Chicago) and DuPage Habitat for Humanity/Habitat for Humanity Chicago South Suburbs (DuPage/CSS), along with Habitat for Humanity International and 82 other U.S. Habitat affiliate organizations, recently received $436 million in unrestricted giving from American author and philanthropist MacKenzie Scott.
Of that, Habitat Chicago and DuPage/CSS received $6 million, which will be used to expand the organizations’ work and make catalytic investments in their focus neighborhoods. This transformational donation will substantially help further Habitat’s vision of a world where everyone has equitable access to a safe, decent, and affordable place to call home.
“Habitat Chicago is extremely grateful for this unexpected, and exceptionally generous gift by Ms Scott,” said Jennifer Parks, executive director of Habitat Chicago. “Her donation will bolster our continued investment in neighborhood health by growing our programs in our focus neighborhoods of West Pullman and Greater Grand Crossing on Chicago’s South Side, as well as our expansion to Austin on the West Side.”
“This transformational gift will have an incredible and lasting impact on the communities we serve,” said Jennifer Taff, executive director for DuPage Habitat for Humanity/Habitat for Humanity Chicago South Suburbs. “Our approach is to collaborate with residents of a neighborhood to improve their quality of life. This generous gift will help us continue the work we have been doing in the Greenbrook Tanglewood neighborhood located in DuPage County, as well as launch our efforts in the Chicago South Suburbs neighborhoods.”
Habitat Chicago and DuPage/CSS will use this $6 million unrestricted gift as a strategic investment in its focus neighborhoods to identify their greatest opportunities for growth. The affiliates work in partnership with residents to grow and expand healthy communities through homeownership, civic engagement, and 2twoneighborhood development projects.
These efforts help communities build generational wealth and bring about cyclical change. The affiliates’ focus neighborhoods have been impacted by decades of disinvestment, and past exclusionary housing policies, such as redlining and racial restrictive covenants, have blocked Black families from affordable homeownership opportunities, further widening the racial wealth gap and straining neighborhood health.
With the support of transformational donors like Ms. Scott, these Habitat affiliates can, in partnership with residents, positively change the trajectory of their focus neighborhoods, and help families and communities thrive.
Habitat International will use its $25 million portion of the donation to prioritize advocacy and programmatic efforts designed to dismantle systemic racism in housing. Specifically, the donation will allow Habitat to advocate for policy proposals and legislation that enable millions of people access affordable housing through its Cost of Home advocacy campaign; increase Black homeownership in the U.S. by targeting current systemic barriers through a new initiative that will launch this summer; and leverage innovative capital investments that service communities of color.
“Habitat works to break down barriers and bring people together — to tear down obstacles and build a world where everyone, no matter who we are or where we come from, has a decent place to live,” said Habitat for Humanity International CEO Jonathan Reckford. “This incredible gift helps make that work possible.”
—DuPage Habitat for Humanity