Habitat for Humanity of Greater Lowell General Information At Hicks Farm 124 Main Street Westford, MA 1886 (978) 692-927 Website www.lowellhabitat.org Organization Contact Brenda Gould info@lowellhabitat.org Year of Incorporation 1991 1
Statements & Search Criteria Mission Statement Habitat for Humanity of Greater Lowell (HfHGL) is a nonprofit 51(c)(3) organization that works to strengthen families and communities by building and renovating simple, decent, safe, energy efficient and affordable homes. We work in partnership with corporations, like-minded community groups, faith-based organizations and individual volunteers. Background Statement Habitat for Humanity of Greater Lowell has been servicing 15 communities in the Greater Lowell area since 1991. Since its founding, HFHGL has built or renovated a total of 33 homes in 6 towns: Bedford, Billerica, Concord, Lowell, Reading, and Westford, Massachusetts. In addition, 14 homes have been repaired through our Critical Home Repair program which reaches out to our veterans, elderly and disabled. These homes have placed almost 2 men, women, and children into quality housing. An additional 57 homes have been built globally. We know that home ownership provides family and community stability. Data supports the claim of Ron Snider: Few material things anchor a family more securely than homeownership. A house of one s own provides security, stability and dignity, and it encourages responsibility, discourages transience and makes one a stakeholder in one s community. Habitat focuses on families who make between 25-6% of the area medium income. Our program provides a hand up not a hand out to families desiring homeownership but otherwise would not be able to afford one. Impact Statement HfHGL had 3 major accomplishments this past few years. First is our Carter Way project where we committed to build 8 single family homes in a culdesac in Bedford MA. With the help of many volunteers and through engaging a local technical school, we were able to complete and dedicate 4 more houses in FY 212 with the 8th and final house dedicated in November 212 (FY 213). We now have 8 homes built with families living in them and a functioning home owners association. Completing this 8 home project and partnering with these families was a major accomplishment that we are all proud of. #2 was being chosen as a pilot affiliate for the critical repairs program for veterans. We started the program in FY 212, getting our forms together, doing significant outreach into the communities working with veterans agents, councils on aging and several other civic groups. As a result, we qualified 25 veterans for the initial program and now, two years later, we have completed fourteen projects since 212. The list has grown and with volunteers, we are striving to complete an additional 5-8 homes in 215. The program concentrates on repairs such as roofing, insulation, handicap access etc in an effort to work with veterans to keep them safe and healthy in their homes. Like our building model, this is a "hand up, not hand out" program. We are very proud to be able to perform a service for our veterans. #3 was the start of our first neighborhood revitalization project in the Acre area of Lowell MA. We made a promise to build 1 new homes and improve other homes in the area. Since we broke ground in December of 212, we have completed 6 of the 1 homes, placing 19 children in a safe, decent and affordable home. We will break ground on #7 and #8 in spring 215 and we are well on our way to creating a neighborhood in this section of Lowell. Starting in 214, our 3 major goals were to 1) continue the transformation of a neighborhood in Lowell. Our 2nd goal was to make our ReStore initiative profitable so that we can support the building of 1-2 homes per year. We are well on our way with a projected profit of $45K this year and to date we are well ahead of budget. Lastly, we have the goal to work in all 15 towns we serve by impacting at least one veteran through our critical repairs program. Now in 215 we will complete a handicap accessible home on Friendship St Billerica, build a single family home on State St Tewksbury and start construction on a Duplex on Rock St Lowell. We will also contintue with our Critical Home Repairs and Neighborhood Revitalization. 2
Needs Statement Affordable Home Construction - $15, Critical Repair Program - $25, Capacity Building - $35, Advertising and ReStore Signage- $12,5 Fork Lift for ReStore- $7,5 CEO/Executive Director Statement As a previous board member for 5 years and then before that, a volunteer for 2, I feel that I have come to know this organization very well. I've seen several changes in board members and management but one thing stays consistent as to why this organization is unique. The first is that it is not a hand out but a hand up. Habitat partner families are required to put in sweat equity of 45 hours for a dual income family and they work side by side with staff and volunteers to build their home. Most families end up putting in more hours and also work on neighbors homes. Additionally, the families are required to take 22 hours of a financial literacy class and 6 hours of first time home buyers classes. Between the sweat equity and the education invested, Habitat and the families are truly considered partners. The home is based on an interest free mortgage and the family is required to pay their mortgage and escrows so the house is by no way free as some would rumor. The houses are also deed restricted to stay affordable in perpetuity. Habitat truly is an organization which believes in helping out by giving people the skills and confidence to know that they can become home owners. Another unique area is that Habitat continues to mentor the family in the first year to be there for them if they have questions regarding the house or regarding the community. The home owner is also strongly encouraged to attend a financial refresher course so that they can continue to be good neighbors and stay in their home. Again, another example of a hand up, not a hand out. Lastly, one other area that is unique is that the donors and volunteers actually get to see a completed product. There are many other nonprofits with wonderful and needed causes but many times, the donor or the volunteer, never gets to see any fruits of their labor. With habitat, you work side by side with the family and at the end of about 7 months, you are there congratulating the family on their new home. You get to see them move in and that's what it's all about! Sometimes, you even get to share in success stories where the children of the partner families have exceeded academically or culturally and it's a great reassurance that money and time spent with this organization truly has an impact on families, neighborhoods and communities. Not every organization can say this! 3
Board Chair Statement I have spent part of my life on affordable housing partnerships and in the political arena. I've seen committees disagree just for the sake of disagreeing. When I came to Habitat, it was very refreshing. People on the board actually were committed to getting things done in a timely fashion. There was no politics involved, just 8-12 people pulling for the same common goal - to strengthen families and communities through affordable home ownership. Our board has faced many challenges, much like other nonprofits. There is always so much work to do, so much outreach that you want to do and just not enough time since the board all have full time jobs as well. However, this board has been very good at spreading out the workload. The board is made up of people with various skills needed for the affiliate to succeed and we use everyone's talents to do so. We have a real estate atty, a realtor, a CPA, a banker, a reverend, a mayor, a businessman, an entrepreneur and the list goes on. Our success is based on our working together as a team. Everyone contributes and everyone is on a committee so that we spread the work around, which is our major challenge. Additionally another challenge was a change in management and leadership earlier this year. The board pulled together to write up several policies for the employees and do an executive search for personnel. We met often and we met for long nights but the result was final personnel policies and organizational policies and new management. It's this working commitment that rejuvenates me as a volunteer. There is also a consistency throughout the organization that keeps me and others coming back. When asked why people are on the board, everyone pretty much said in one way or another, that they needed a way to give back because they have all been blessed with talents and treasures. They also wanted to give something special to their children - leading by example regarding community involvement. The organization does not just exist because someone wanted a nice statement on their resume; it exists because overall, the board, staff and volunteers believe in the mission and are committed to it. It's easy to get excited when you are working with people like this. Even when there are tough financial times, we remind ourselves of the families that now have homes and the kids that went to college because they were able to study in a safe & healthy environment. We see that the money from each families mortgage goes into building the next home and the kids that grow up in one Habitat home are some of the kids who do alternative spring break and come back and build more Habitat homes. The cycle continues and as board president, I am really thrilled to be making an impact. Service Categories Housing Development, Construction & Management Home Improvement/Repairs Housing Rehabilitation Geographic Areas Served Bedford, Billerica, Burlington, Carlisle, Chelmsford, Concord, Dracut, Dunstable, Lowell, Reading,Tewksbury, Tyngsboro, Wakefield, Westford, Wilmington Please review online profile for full list of selected areas served. 4
Programs Home Building Description Habitat for Humanity of Greater Lowell services 15 towns in the Greater Lowell/Middlesex County region. Working with the local community, local companies, interfaith community and individual volunteers, Habitat will build affordable simple, decent, energy efficient homes. Partner families earning between 25-6% of the area medium income will provide up to 45 hours of sweat equity to build their home as well as participate in financial classes. Budget 5 Category Population Served Housing, General/Other Affordable Housing Families, Poor,Economically Disadvantaged,Indigent, Program Short Term Success Program Long term Success Program Success Monitored By Examples of Program Success Habitat s success is providing a family with the opportunity to set down their roots and provide a safe, decent home in which they can stay for many years. The stability of staying in one home for a long span enables the family security and for children to prosper. This will effect both the immediate family as well as future generations. Having Habitat families remain in their homes and be able to pay off their mortgage. Words from a partner family: The sense of teamwork and community amongst the volunteers was amazing says Joe. The fact that these volunteers would continue to build one home after the other, working side by side, helping us set up for our new life, was beyond what we could have imagined. As we watch our children and their friends playing outside with the family dog, we realize that we are just like everyone else on our street we re home, we re part of the neighborhood and we re truly thankful! 5
Veterans critical repairs Description In an attempt to impact more families, we have launched a program called veteran critical repairs. The program is designed to help veterans stay in their homes and for us to provide assistance in repairs and renovations that will make the home safe, accessible and cost effective. The program is like other Habitat programs and the family is asked to participate in the program so that it is also a hand up, not a hand out. Budget 85 Category Population Served Program Short Term Success Program Long term Success Program Success Monitored By Examples of Program Success Housing, General/Other Home Repair Programs Elderly and/or Disabled, People/Families with of People with Disabilities, Poor,Economically Disadvantaged,Indigent In year one, we plan do complete 5-1 critical repairs. The projects will most likely be sequential because with only a part time coordinator running the program, it is difficult to be in two places at once. Coordinating volunteers, building supplies and the veterans resources will require our coordiantor to focus on one job at a time. The first will start by early Sept working out outside issues, then moving in side as the months get colder. EAch project is assumed to take one week to one month because we will be relying on volunteer time and skill sets. Our goal is to impact at least 5-1 veterans and their families in the first year. We will perform a scope of work and then measure our success against this scope of work to make sure that all items are completed. We will also realize success when we know that a family may not have been able to stay in the house but now they can. The program is planned to continue for a minimum of 3 years. EAch year the goal is to increase the families impacted. Working with local veterans agencies, we will have no problem increasing our base and hope to increase to 1-2 and then 2-3 in the following years We use three surveys. The first is a survey with the veteran regarding their ability to qualify for the program (based on need and on financials and on a general or honorable discharge). The 2nd survey is a scope of work to be done and the third survey is a completion survey to make sure that we completed the work to the satisfaction of the veteran and within the boundaries that we originally set. Success will be measured by the before and after pictures and the stories told by the veterans. Program Comments CEO Comments Both programs present similar challenges. Since we provide both labor and materials - we continually have to face the challenge of raising money to buy materials and of recruiting enough 6
volunteers to get the job done since we do 9% of our building and repairs through volunteer labor. We are working to improve our website and our social media programs so that we can reach out to the community for both of these areas. We have strengthened our volunteer up software program so that we can attract people with different skill sets and we hope that we will have a good turnout for the veterans program as we usually do for our general builds. Financially we are coming up with new ways to engage businesses and organizations but our strongest asset is team building day opportunities where people can come out to build with us and experience the construction while working with the partner family. 7
Management CEO/Executive Director Executive Director Ms. Brenda Gould Term Start Dec 211 Email execdir@lowellhabitat.org Experience Previous to ED position, 5 years as board member serving in various capacities as President, Vice President and Treasurer. Prior to joining board, supported Habitat as a volunteer since May 25. ED has worked in large fortune 5 company, small private company and sole proprietorship. Work experience: Schooley Mitchell franchise owner 21-212 Inside Sales Manager for Agamatrix Inc 27-28 Business Operations Manager for lab Water Division of Millipore Corporation 1983-25 Other includes property management companies in New York State and Massachusetts Former CEOs Name Term Mr Dana Owens Feb 28 - Dec 211 Staff Information Full Time Staff Part Time Staff Volunteers Contractors Retention Rate 12 1 18 1 9% Staff Demographics - Ethnicity African American/Black Asian American/Pacific Islander Caucasian 13 Hispanic/Latino Native American/American Indian Other Staff Demographics - Gender Male 8
Female Unspecified 8 5 Formal Evaluations CEO Formal Evaluation CEO/Executive Formal Evaluation Frequency Senior Management Formal Evaluation Senior Management Formal Evaluation Frequency NonManagement Formal Evaluation Non Management Formal Evaluation Frequency Annually Annually Annually Plans & Policies Organization has a Fundraising Plan? Organization has a Strategic Plan? Years Strategic Plan Considers Management Succession Plan? Organization Policy and Procedures Nondiscrimination Policy Whistleblower Policy Document Destruction Policy Directors and Officers Insurance Policy 3 Collaborations Coalition for a Better Acre Budget Buddies Merrimack Valley Housing Partnership Community Teamwork Comments CEO Comments 212 has been a year that we have tried to put policies in place for board governance and operations management. We spent a significant amount of time drafting an employee handbook since this was a document that we did not have in the past. Additionally, we have made sure that each employee has a job description for their current position. There are still policies to complete but we have moved in the right direction over the past year. 9
Board & Governance Board Chair Board Chair Mr Jim Silva Company Affiliation Attorney and local/regional government officia Term June 212 to June 215 Email jimsilva@hotmail.com Board Members Name Affiliation Status Stacey Alcorn ReMax Prestigue Voting Andrew Barlow no affiliation Voting Paul Barrett NetScout Systems Voting Patrick Chieh Foley Hoad LLP Voting Robert Correnti Selectmen, Billerica Voting Robert Moodie no affiliation Voting Peter Mullin no affiliation Voting Paiman Nodoushani No Affiliation Voting Elvira Paulino Lowell Community Charter Public School Voting Pastor David Rinas Trinity Lutheran Church Voting Melissa Robbins Deschenes & Farrell, P. Voting James Saltonstall no affiliation Voting James Silva no affiliation Voting Marshall-Ben Tisdale no affiliation Voting Board Demographics - Ethnicity African American/Black 1 Asian American/Pacific Islander Caucasian 11 Hispanic/Latino 1 Native American/American Indian Other Board Demographics - Gender Male Female Unspecified 11 3 1
Board Information Board Term Lengths Board Term Limits Number of Full Board Meetings Annually Board Meeting Attendance % Written Board Selection Criteria? Written Conflict of Interest Policy? Percentage Making Monetary Contributions Percentage Making In-Kind Contributions Constituency Includes Client Representation 3 2 1 72% 1% 1% No Standing Committees Board Development / Board Orientation Board Governance Building Development / Fund Development / Fund Raising / Grant Writing / Major Gifts Executive Finance Human Resources / Personnel Legislative Nominating Real Estate Strategic Planning / Strategic Direction Comments CEO Comments Our board has been in transition over the last couple years to move from an operating board to a governance board. In the last couple years, more specifically in the past year, they have put in many hours trying to make sure that we have specific policies in place that will allow the operations to run smoothly so that they can concentrate on becoming more of a governing board. We have had some changes of leadership in the staff and so the board has had to be more involved on the operations side than was preferable but now they have the staff in place and the policies and committees in place so that we can now move the affiliate to the next level. 11
Financials Fiscal Year Fiscal Year Start July 1, 214 Fiscal Year End June 3, 215 Projected Revenue $1,58,917. Projected Expenses $1,58,917. Endowment? No Spending Policy N/A Credit Line? Reserve Fund? No Months Reserve Fund Covers Detailed Financials Revenue and Expenses Fiscal Year 214 213 212 Total Revenue $1,895,258 $1,536,7 $1,227,19 Total Expenses $1,636,42 $1,332,17 $1,535,282 Revenue Sources Fiscal Year 214 213 212 Foundation and Corporation -- -- $126,465 Contributions Government Contributions $ $36,92 $ Federal -- -- -- State -- -- -- Local -- -- -- Unspecified $ $36,92 -- Individual Contributions $866,9 $768,86 $218,852 Indirect Public Support $ $ -- Earned Revenue $92,89 $634,71 $791,744 Investment Income, Net of Losses $93 $6 $153 Membership Dues $ $ -- Special Events $18,266 $84,13 $77,596 Revenue In-Kind -- -- -- Other $ $12,92 $12,299 12
Expense Allocation Fiscal Year 214 213 212 Program Expense $1,482,365 $1,18,4 $1,328,949 Administration Expense $55,11 $5,246 $59,72 Fundraising Expense $99,44 $11,371 $147,261 Payments to Affiliates -- -- -- Total Revenue/Total Expenses 1.16 1.15.8 Program Expense/Total Expenses 91% 89% 87% Fundraising Expense/Contributed Revenue 1% 11% 35% Assets and Liabilities Fiscal Year 214 213 212 Total Assets $2,635,28 $2,391,385 $2,136,1 Current Assets $1,874,613 $1,518,391 $1,921,646 Long-Term Liabilities $ $ $111,641 Current Liabilities $253,889 $268,639 $15,766 Total Net Assets $2,381,391 $2,122,746 $1,918,693 Short Term Solvency Fiscal Year 214 213 212 Current Ratio: Current Assets/Current Liabilities 7.38 5.65 18.17 Long Term Solvency Fiscal Year 214 213 212 Long-Term Liabilities/Total Assets % % 5% Top Funding Sources Fiscal Year 214 213 212 Top Funding Source & Dollar Amount -- -- NetScout Systems $5, Second Highest Funding Source & Dollar Amount -- -- ReMax Prestige $27,5 Third Highest Funding Source & Dollar Amount -- -- Cisco Systems $26,5 Capital Campaign Currently in a Capital Campaign? Anticipated In 3 Years Campaign Purpose The affiliate has been working to try to start a capital campaign in order to build a continual stream of revenue. We currently do not have a plan in place. Comments CEO Comments Our affiliate engages an outside cpa firm to audit our financials and policies. Overall, Habitat gets donations upfront to cover the cost of the homes. These donations are reflected as income in the year received, which is almost always not the year of sale (takes us average of 7-9 months to build). The expenses for the houses are put into inventory as we do the work on them, so they are not expensed in the year incurred. Two additional items come through our P&L (infrastructure & land) but we do not include them in the calculations for setting the house 13
price due to habitat rules. Therefore there is not only a mismatch of income vs expense in our fiscal year, but also several costs not covered in the sell price. In the year of sale, we record the sale and the cost of the house. Our selling price for the house is limited by Habitat and affordable housing rules and is also based on the income of the purchaser. We never sell above cost and we always lose money on the financial statements. To add to this, we sell our houses interest free. However, the financial statements and IRS regulations require us to treat a portion of the selling price as interest. Thus the HUD statement might say $16, but selling price on the P&L will only be $11,. $5, goes into deferred interest (an example, not a real transaction). As an example see FY 212: our house sales on the P&L were $591,774 but the costs were $942,397 a loss of $35,623. However, the $942,397 (give or take) was collected in donations in prior years to cover the costs of the houses. So, over time, we do not lose money on the sale of the houses but we look like we lost money in the year of sale. Foundation Staff Comments Financial summary data in the charts and graphs above is per the organization's IRS Form 99s, with additional details provided by the nonprofit. Created 8.26.218. Copyright 218 The Boston Foundation 14