Habitat for Humanity harnessing the power of women to buid, advocate for affordable housing

As people and organizations of all stripes look ahead to building back after a year of COVID-19, Habitat for Humanity is looking at building — period. 

Even as the pandemic impacted facets of their operations ranging from welcoming volunteers at building sites to fundraising, area Habitat affiliates’ focus remained firmly on building homes for families and sparking community conversations about the importance of and need for affordable housing.

This week, those affiliates — Habitat for Humanity of the St. Vrain Valley and Flatirons Habitat for Humanity — will stay that course with modified International Women Build Week events. 

The week, which starts Monday on International Women’s Day and was created in partnership with Lowe’s, “highlights the global need for women’s access to safe and affordable housing,” according to Habitat for Humanity International. “Habitat and Lowe’s are also raising awareness of the unprecedented challenges women are facing during the pandemic. Despite being frontline health care professionals in the fight against COVID-19, and essential workers in other critical sectors such as food service, transportation and education, women are disproportionately bearing the brunt of the pandemic’s economic consequences around the globe.”

Those consequences include pandemic-related job losses. The Women’s Law Center, in a fact sheet last month, stated that as of January “two in five unemployed women had been unemployed for six months or more, while millions of others have left the labor force entirely.”

The fact sheet, citing data from the Jan. 6-18 U.S. Census Bureau Household Pulse Survey measuring the social and economic impact of COVID-19, also homed in on impacts on women of color. Black, non-Hispanic women and Latinas are more likely to be in households that lost employment income since March 2020; and Asian, non-Hispanic women, Black, non-Hispanic women, and Latinas are more likely to be behind on their rent or mortgage payment, according to the fact sheet. 

Rebecca Shannon, community engagement manager for Habitat for Humanity of the St. Vrain Valley, said while COVID is raising the profile of women’s struggles in the workforce, their housing needs have always been known to the nonprofit. 

Of St. Vrain Habitat’s 113 homeowners, 62 are women and heads of households, Shannon said. 

“The overall need for affordable housing is going to increase because of COVID’s disparate impact on women,” she said, adding women were the first to be laid off when the pandemic hit and have had to wait longer to be hired again. “It’s terrible for everyone but is having a bigger impact on women, especially single-parent households. We’ve always served that demographic. At the state level, county level, we’ve all got to figure out ways to help.”

Much like St. Vrain Habitat, whose geographic area encompasses St. Vrain Valley School District and the Estes Valley, its counterpart in Boulder Valley School District and Broomfield, Flatirons Habitat, also has been serving women heads of households for years, said Executive Director Susan Lythgoe. In all, 56 of Flatirons Habitat’s 115 homeowners are women heads of household. 

“We’ve always known women are disproportionately needing safe, stable, affordable housing. (COVID) has really reinforced that,” she said, adding four out of its six homebuyers in 2020 were women.

And while COVID changed things, it didn’t change the mission or deter the efforts of both area Habitat affiliates, which employ a homeownership model that allows families to contribute via construction “sweat equity” and rely on volunteer labor. Both completed nine homes in 2020 and did not layoff or furlough any employees last year.

Similarly, the pandemic might be changing Women Build Week activities, but not stopping them. Both affiliates are holding virtual events in celebration and also are calling on their supporters and communities to join Habitat International and Lowe’s in using the #BuildHer hashtag to advocate for housing affordability and raise awareness of the issue. 

St. Vrain Habitat on Tuesday will hold a virtual home dedication at 4:30 p.m. that can be joined via Facebook Live and hopes to hold a Women Build day in the spring, perhaps around Mother’s Day, Shannon said. Women Build days, as the name implies, are days dedicated to female volunteer building crews.

She also encouraged people to attend a live, virtual conversation hosted by Habitat International and Lowe’s “to explore the economic effects of the pandemic on women, and how safe, decent housing is a cornerstone in supporting stability and unlocking opportunities for economic mobility.” The event, “+You: Women, housing and the front lines of the COVID-19 pandemic,” will be at 9 a.m. Thursday and can be accessed here.

Shannon gave a shout out to Lowe's for its continued sponsorship even if the celebration has gone virtual.

Flatirons Habitat is holding a virtual happy hour at 5 p.m. Wednesday that will feature lessons in making Manhattans and non-alcoholic Competitions based on a recipe from J&L Distilling Co. in Boulder. And while it does not have Women Build day planned for the spring, “we always encourage women to come out individually, or in groups, to build and we do have safe volunteer opportunities on our build sites now,” Lythgoe said, adding Flatirons Habitat just this week decided to host full crews of volunteers at its work sites.

St. Vrain Habitat is not quite ready to welcome back volunteers to all of its build sites, but people can volunteer for repair projects in Dacono, Shannon said. Those projects are part of its Neighborhood Revitalization Program that benefits seniors, veterans and people with disabilities who couldn’t do repairs on their own, she said. 

The most recent project completed was a new roof for a 90-year-old Korean War veteran, Shannon said. 

People also can support St. Vrain Habitat through monetary donations or by donating to or shopping at its ReStore, she said. 

Likewise, Flatirons Habitat has a ReStore, and is taking monetary donations. It also is urging people to share the message of the Cost of Home program, a five-year advocacy campaign through which affiliates worldwide “are working together so that 10 million people have access to an affordable home.”