Habitat for Humanity Philadelphia has received a massive financial boost for its efforts to address the city’s lack of affordable housing for vulnerable residents.
The nonprofit said Tuesday that it made $ 5 million from MacKenzie Scott as part of a $ 436 million donation made by Philanthrop and author to Habitat for Humanity International and 84 partner organizations in the United States. -Years of history.
“This transformative $ 5 million represents so much more than a generous donation,” said Corinne O’Connell, CEO of Habitat for Humanity Philadelphia. “With this catalytic gift, MacKenzie Scott signals that she believes in the vision of Habitat Philadelphia from a city where everyone has a decent place to live.”
Habitat for Humanity for International received $ 25 million from Scott Don, while the remaining $ 411 million was distributed to local nonprofit associations, the organization said.
Scott’s financial gift to the nonprofit homebuilder is limitless – meaning the money can be used as and where Habitat for Humanity chooses.
Habitat Philadelphia said the donation will allow the organization to accelerate its work in the coming years to build and repair more homes, and to develop and invest in technology and resources for affordable housing, and to advocate for systemic racism in Approaching city housing.
The organization said a shortage of affordable housing in Philly could be directly linked to the city’s poverty rate. About 23% of Philly’s residents are in poverty, and more than 121,000 families live in impoverished housing, according to Habitat Philadelphia.
“This gift allows us to never pause,” O’Connell said. “There are always roadblocks in this work, but throughout our history we have been terrible, determined, exhausted, angry, motivated and relentless in pursuing our mission. This unrestricted support allows us to move directly from one project to the next, and work. in addition to more Philadelphia families to ensure they have a safe, warm, and dry place to call home.
Since opening in 1985, Habitat Philadelphia has built and repaired hundreds of homes to help city dwellers in need of affordable, decent housing, the nonprofit said.
Scott’s financial gift to Habitat for Humanity is the billionaire’s largest publicly publicized donation since she pledged to donate the majority of her wealth in 2019, according to the Associated Press.
Scott also recently donated $ 20 million in unlimited funding to Benefits Data Trust, a Philly nonprofit that helps residents apply for and access government benefit programs such as SNAP, Medicaid and WIC.
“We are immensely appreciated for this extraordinarily generous gift from MacKenzie Scott,” said Benefits Data Trust CEO Trooper Sanders. “It is a testament to the importance of the Benefits Data Trust’s work to improve health and economic mobility by increasing equitable access to aid. No one should have to choose between putting food on the table, their homes heating up or taking medication.This gift will help us scale our work and innovations faster to modernize fundamentally as people access access to help.
Scott has promised to give more than half of her money after her divorce from Amazon founder and executive president Jeff Bezos. Scott’s net worth is $ 49.3 billion, according to Forbes.
Donations from Scott and her husband, Dan Jewett, have exceeded $ 8 billion in the last two years. Jewett was previously a chemistry teacher at Harriton High School in Bryn Mawr, Montgomery County from 2002-2011.
Local organizations such as Lincoln University, Play On Philly, The United Way of Greater Philadelphia and Southern New Jersey, Greater Philadelphia YMCA and Easterseals Southeastern Pennsylvania have also received financial gifts from Scott in recent years.
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