Because we know that there is no one solution that will solve the housing crisis, we have five different ways of building and creating housing for our homeownership program participants and people in our community. AND, we’re exploring new models all the time!
Multi-family residences are buildings that have multiple, separate homes within them. This model helps to maximize the land we acquire by serving more families per square foot. Examples include the Lomita (pictures) and Kenwood Homes in Glendale.
Single-family homes consist of one to four homes within a single building. Some Habitat for Humanity projects consist of one single-family home, while other projects can include a community of single-family homes, like the nine-home Desiderio community in Pasadena. An example of this kind of project is our first-ever project completed in 1990 – the Maple Homes in Pasadena.
Launched in 2019, we buy single-family homes in need of repair, rehab them with staff and volunteers then resell them as affordable homes in as little as three to six months. These projects are typically faster and more cost-effective than new construction. Recent examples are the Collegian and Baldwin Park Blvd. homes. We have a companion non-profit community housing development organization (CHDO) specializing in acquisition-rehab, supported by applicable City funding.
ADUs (Accessory Dwelling Units) typically range from 250-900 sq. ft. and are small attached or detached homes built on the same plot of land as a single-family home. These small, lower-cost houses have surged in popularity since their statewide legalization in 2017 and can be used as permanent housing through Habitat, as well as rental housing and permanent rental housing for those experiencing homelessness.
An example of this transitional type of ADU is the one-unit project in Pasadena, made possible through a partnership with Union Station Homeless Services and the Pasadena Community Foundation.
We team up with for-profit developers to create, sell, and/or provide our affordable Habitat mortgage to qualified low-income first-time homebuyers. We also provide technical assistance whenever it is needed. Partnering with private section development companies often enables us to provide affordable homeownership access to more families at one time, compared to a stand-alone Habitat project. We piloted our first for-profit partnership in 2018 with Toledo homes, a partnership that created two affordable homes in Pasadena.
