On May 14th, Habitat Greater Sacramento received a very special $40,000 donation from Supervisor Patrick Kennedy. The contribution, designated to help with neighborhood revitalization efforts in District 2, marks the first donation Habitat Greater Sacramento has ever received from a local government entity.
The donation came as a complete surprise when during a meeting with Supervisor Kennedy, after inquiring how much had been raised by Habitat through private donations to help in his district, he announced he would match it.
Says Habitat CEO Leah Miller, “I about fell out of my chair. In our entire 32 year history, we’ve never received a financial donation at the local city or county level.”
The donation was announced at Habitat’s Women Build kick-off event on May 1st. Said an emotional Supervisor Kennedy (captured in this Facebook video) “I’ve always been a big supporter of Habitat, but when I heard everything that was going on beyond even just the house openings, I had to step up.”
In addition to helping support revitalizing a play space and community garden at Pacific Elementary (a school where 100% of the children are on subsidized or free school lunch), Supervisor Kennedy’s contribution will help spur multiple Habitat home repair and community projects in District 2 over the next several months.
The donation was made possible through the County Board of Supervisor’s new Transient Occupancy Tax (TOT) fund which is designed to support nonprofits with projects addressing a community issue or problem and to extend the reach of services to underserved populations. Each of the five Sacramento County districts receives $100,000 of TOT funding for the year.
Says CEO Leah Miller, “Supervisor Kennedy has truly been such a tremendous champion for Habitat. We would ideally love to leverage TOT funds to help provide critical repairs and neighborhood revitalization efforts in every district!”
In addition to his financial support, Supervisor Kennedy has also been instrumental in getting things off the ground with Habitat’s large-scale Avenues Project – a 5-home development on 43rd Avenue and MLK Jr. Blvd which will begin above-ground construction this month.
Supervisor Patrick Kennedy poses with Habitat staff and volunteers outside the future Avenues project site
“The Avenues is a neighborhood that needs hope and you all are bringing that,” said Supervisor Kennedy, “You’re bringing it to the kids, to the families, and the neighborhood. Because nobody believed in this neighborhood… so I want to thank you for all the work that you’re doing out in neighborhoods that otherwise wouldn’t have it, serving families that otherwise wouldn’t have it.”
Currently less than 2% of Habitat for Humanity of Greater Sacramento’s budget is government funding.
For more information on how you can partner with Habitat for Humanity of Greater Sacramento and support our growing neighborhood revitalization program, please contact Laine Himmelmann at LHimmelmann@HabitatGreaterSac.org
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