The Ralph M. Parsons Foundation has provided a grant to help Habitat for Humanity SF/SCV provide housing and enrichment services to our nation’s veterans.
This funding will help Habitat for Humanity SF/SCV in their mission to build low-income housing for local veteran families and provide self-sufficiency and life-skills training to them in order for them to move up into the middle class.
The Habitat Enriched Neighborhood® model is unique to the San Fernando/Santa Clarita Valley affiliate; it offers no-cost social and educational services to the neighborhoods Habitat SF/SCV builds by connecting the families with other local agencies that bring services right into the neighborhoods.
These services include financial education, health information, dental hygiene, teen empowerment and children’s programs such as tutoring. Services begin 12 months before and continue 12 to 24 months after moving into their new homes. Families will receive Sweat Equity hours for all classes and services including required ones.
The veteran-specific Habitat Enriched Neighborhoods® will also connect the families to services specific to the needs of veterans. These include, Post Traumatic Stress counseling, A Window Between Worlds art workshops for trauma victims, ensuring connections to all military benefits, and more.
The Ralph M. Parsons Foundation has provided grants in the past to now completed Habitat SF/SCV neighborhoods to support this model for affordable housing. Results from existing non-veteran communities are outstanding; Habitat expects to see similar results in their new veteran-specific neighborhoods:
- In our Habitat Enriched Neighborhoods®, children have a 99.1% HS graduation rate and GPA above 3.0
- 91% of our Habitat kids are attending or have graduated from college or trade school. 46% are at 4-year universities.
- After moving into a new Habitat home. Our teenage pregnancy rate is 0%
- Despite current trends, amongst the more than 220 families served by this affiliate, there have been no foreclosures.
- More than 12.7% of parents in Habitat households from our affiliate have returned to school for a degree or certificate program to advance employment opportunities and economic outcomes.
Our Habitat homeowners are not only disaster ready, but certified Fire Dept. Emergency Responders.