A Message from Steve Messinetti, President and CEO of Habitat for Humanity Portland/Metro East

This fall marks three decades that Habitat for Humanity Portland/Metro East has been building homes and providing hope. Starting with that first home built in northeast Portland, thousands of dedicated volunteers have now given of their time and resources, allowing Habitat to open doors for hundreds of families.
As Habitat celebrates its thirtieth anniversary in Portland, we have dedicated ourselves to increase our building to 30 homes annually throughout the metro area. We are looking to a future where Habitat is not just changing the life of one family at a time, but rather investing in neighborhoods where we can make the greatest impact and help the entire community.
Our goals and plans for the coming years are bold and ambitious, but they are doable. We’ve proven we can deliver hope, stable and healthy homes, and community transformation when we roll up our sleeves and work together. To accomplish all this we have launched A World of Hope: It Starts at Home, our first major fundraising campaign. The goal of this campaign is to permanently increase, by at least 50%, our local affiliate’s capacity to serve more families and involve more volunteers.
As we considered launching this campaign we interviewed more than 60 community leaders to get their advice and opinions about our plans. The overwhelming response we received was that while the economy might make it challenging to raise these funds, hardworking families in our hardest hit neighborhoods are in need of housing now and Habitat’s unique homeownership model can provide the neighborhood revitalization that is needed. We also heard loud and clear that the timing was ripe for Habitat to purchase land at record low prices in targeted neighborhoods with high foreclosure rates.
We have already seen some great success and the momentum continues to build as more and more people learn about this life-changing work. Please join us as we celebrate 30 years of providing A World of Hope to local families and look ahead to our aggressive efforts to exponentially increase Habitat’s capacity. Help us spread the word!
Learn more about A World of Hope: It Starts at Home by clicking here.