RALEIGH, N.C.– After building more than 500 homes over the past 30 years, Habitat for Humanity of Wake County is taking a major step in order to build more safe, affordable homes with Wake County families in need. Beginning in June, Coastal Federal Credit Union will become the nonprofit’s first mortgage lending partner, with a commitment of $3 million in new mortgage loans for 2016-2017.
“This is a critical step in our aggressive efforts to double the number of Habitat Wake homes in the next eight years,” said Kevin Campbell, Habitat Wake president and CEO. “We have reached the size where a mortgage partner is essential, and we are grateful to Coastal Federal Credit Union for joining with us to build more homes with families and help them achieve the “American Dream.”
Habitat Wake is building more homes in order to meet more of the affordable housing need. More than 28,000 families in Wake County have an affordable housing need, meaning they are paying more than 30 percent of their income on housing or are living in unsafe or substandard housing.
Families who qualify to build and buy homes in partnership with Habitat Wake earn 25% to 60% of the area median income and purchase an energyefficient home with a mortgage that totals no more than 30 percent of their income. Habitat Wake’s partnership model also requires that qualified homeowner families invest at least 250 sweat equity hours volunteering and complete financial and homeownership classes.
“We are extremely proud of our partnership with Habitat Wake, and fully embrace the mission to partner with families to purchase homes and achieve financial stability. When we learned that Habitat Wake wanted to increase its capacity to build more homes, we wanted to take the lead in helping more hardworking families buy their own homes,” said Chuck Purvis, CEO of Coastal.
As a financial institution, Coastal is uniquely qualified to support this process and offer loan forgiveness. However, Purvis adds that they the CU will continue to be a leader in corporate philanthropy by partnering with Habitat Wake. Coastal has a long history of supporting Habitat Wake. In 2014, Coastal sponsored the home and land for the Koledji Family in Raleigh. In addition, Coastal supports the annual Home Tour, Blueprint Breakfast, and Habitat’s Triangle CEO Build. “I would challenge all companies to lend their support to Habitat Wake’s home ownership mission,” Purvis explained. “The benefits are countless. The experience enriches the new homeowners, the employees, and the community.”