This spring, you can help Manatee County Habitat for Humanity give house keys to SIX local families in need by June 30th!
It’s been a tough couple of years for the people Manatee Habitat serves. Rents have skyrocketed, the costs of groceries and gasoline are through the roof, and just getting by gets harder every day for parents like Brittany.
A manifestation of precisely why home is the key to unlocking a brighter future, Brittany’s journey from homelessness to homeownership is a story of perseverance.
For her, owning a home became an aspiration when she got pregnant and began envisioning the life that she wanted to give her daughter, Goldyn. When Brittany first reached out to Manatee Habitat, she was living in a homeless shelter and going to school to earn her Associate’s degree. However, when she learned that to qualify for
a home, she would need to move out of the shelter and have a consistent job, she set out on a mission to reach her goals.
And in just a few years, she has earned her degree, moved into an apartment, has a steady job at the hospital, and was admitted into our homeowner program! Today, after a year and a half of struggling with consistent rent increases and unsafe living conditions, Brittany is ready now, more than ever, to have her forever home.
Among many things, Brittany’s Habitat home will be the key to a healthy childhood for her daughter, reaching new heights in her career and, most of all, legacy building.
Brittany is earning sweat equity hours and finishing her financial counseling to earn a Manatee Habitat zero-percent interest mortgage. Working full time, caring for a toddler as a single mom, and putting in hours with Habitat on the weekends has her stretched thin. With no family support, her faith community from Bayside Church and her friends at Solve Maternity Homes and Manatee Habitat are her chosen family that she leans on for help.
But she, and the many other prospective homeowners with similar stories, need your help as well.
We’re finishing four new houses in the Palmetto Triangle and two recycled homes that new Habitat families will close on by June 30th. After that, we start in earnest on our sixteen-home community, Poling Gardens, and are scheduled to finish two homes there this year and TEN in 2024. To do that, we need YOU.
Manatee Habitat has more than 60 families on a waiting list. We receive more than 80 inquiries each month from people who hope to qualify for a home. To meet our ambitious goal of building at least ten new houses each year, we are seeking additional volunteers as well as donors to help put deserving families in new homes.
Here are a few more ways that you can help. It’s easy:
Donate through Flanzer
Donate to Manatee Habitat through the Flanzer Philanthropic Foundation and we’ll receive 100% of your donation PLUS Flanzer will double your gift of up to $500. Just click the button below and choose ‘Manatee County Habitat for Humanity’ as your charity. The Foundation will match one gift per month.
Give through your IRA or Appreciated Assets
Give from your IRA! After age 70 1/2, you can contribute all or a portion of your required annual distribution directly to Manatee County Habitat for Humanity and avoid the taxes. You can make these gifts throughout the year. Or donate appreciated assets including cars, stocks, and real estate.
Call or email Emily Lane, 941-748-9100 ext. 109 or elane@manateehabitat.org for information about donating through you IRA or appreciated assets.