Habitat for Humanity - Tri-County Partners HFH

Overviewfiscal year 2023 was a pivotal year for Tri-County Partners Habitat for Humanity (tcphfh) as we continue to make progress toward our goal of building 12 homes per year. Perhaps one of the most important factors of our ability to do that is the availability of vacant land. This year we purchased multiple properties and are well into the planning process with the various municipalities where these projects will take place. As with the previous fiscal year 2022 (fy22) continued to build on- and develop a more financially stable model established in fy19 through partnership with yakima federal savings and loan. Now in our fourth year we continue to identify and overcome challenges to mortgage financing and have pursued resources for down payment assistance through the Washington states' housing trust fund, allowing our homeowner Partners to take greater advantage of yakima federal's competitive rates while maintaining our sustainability. In the previous year the challenges we faced were primarily logistical as supply chains were still heavily impacted by the covid-19 pandemic. Fortunately that was a diminishing factor this year, and instead we found that the rapid growth of the region is having a very significant impact on our ability to find and acquire new land. In order to make the most efficient use of the land we do have, we are working with the city of west richland to increase the permissible density going from eight lots to 15-20 lots. This will help us significantly reduce the overall per unit cost of land. This practice will easily become standard operating procedure as we acquire any new land, including single infill lots. We continue to look for land and development opportunities that will give us a couple years of phased building as it remains our goal to scale-up our production. In addition to seeking out opportunities to build more density (i.e. Duplex and triplex townhomes) we have been developing new plans to allow us more versatility in construction. Homes completedthis year we completed six homes in pasco, four on east alvina street and two north wehe avenue. Our seven home alvina street project concluded with an easter-egg hunt and neighborhood celebration sponsored by piton wealth. Our construction team was able to make up significant lost time.community supportour overall volunteer numbers continued to be below pre-covid-19 numbers. In fy23, we hosted 364 individual volunteers a significant decrease from the previous year. However, even with the decrease in volunteer recruitment these mighty 364 individuals served over 18,174 total hours significantly more than the previous year. This year our focus has also been on growing the number of group build days, particularly sponsored build days, which we hosted 1 in fy23. Our partnership tri-tech skills center continues to flourish as we moved from our construction site on east alvina to north wehe. Developing a diverse fundraising strategy, including grants (both local and state level), in-kind giving, private donations (both individual and corporate), as well as store revenues remains to be an important part of development strategy in fy23. This year we have also started incorporating more events, including our 1st annual key's for homes benefit concert in walla walla. We continue to develop our annual fundraising schedule in order to both expand giving opportunities as well as increase our presence in the community. Future growth and sustainabilityin the next year a head advocacy at the state level will be key as affordable housing solutions continue to become an increasing legislative priority of the state year over year. Fy23 was a successful year for our collective advocacy efforts in olympia, during this supplemental legislative session an additional $20 million was secured for homeownership state-wide. In addition to state-level advocacy, identifying agencies with surplus land and outdated housing stock will be key for us as we delve into alternative housing solutions that go beyond the single family detached homes we have historically done so well.