Habitat for Humanity is building its first homes in Austin this month.
Throughout October, over 500 women are volunteering for Habitat for Humanity’s Women Build initiative to help install roofs, windows and siding on three affordable homes in the 400 block of North Lockwood Avenue in Austin.
Women Build kicked off Oct. 2, marking its thirteenth year in Chicago, but Habitat for Humanity’s first construction in Austin. Over 12 days this month, teams of women, many of whom are co-workers or friends, are volunteering to build the houses.
“It’s really about women coming together for other women,” said Jennifer Parks, Habitat for Humanity Chicago’s executive director. “There are extraordinary gaps in women’s ability to purchase homes, and they’re denied at a greater rate than men in terms of loans. Obviously, there’s the pay gap that exists with women, and we have greater responsibilities and caregiving for our families. These challenges make it more complicated and harder for women to get to the point of being able to be homeowners.”
This year’s Women Build volunteers have been working to raise $700,000 to funnel into Habitat for Humanity’s affordable homeownership program. The program provides financial assistance and homeownership education to those who are buying a home built by Habitat for Humanity. The money raised by Women Build will help women in the affordable homeownership program to pay for their new homes.
“It grew from a one-week, $12,000 fundraiser to now a full month, $700,000 initiative,” Parks said of Women Build.
Why Women Build
The team of coworkers from architecture firm Holabird & Root attended this year’s Women Build for the eleventh time. In the last few years, they joined forces with JLK Architects.
“Every year, I find more reasons to come back,” said Anne Strane, an architect at Holabird & Root and the team lead.
With past experience volunteering for Habitat for Humanity, Strane said she first decided to get a team together for Women Build after seeing an advertisement. That initial year, the homeowner of the house she helped build gave her a hug, solidifying her return in following years. After Strane’s daughter was born, she said she participated in Women Build to set a good example for her child.
“This year, my reason is to find hope,” Strane said. She added that, with the current state of the country, she feels incredibly strong building something with other women. “Women Build overall is an amazing event.”
Each home that Women Build volunteers are constructing in Austin is 1,800 square feet with two stories, four bedrooms and a two-car garage. Habitat for Humanity aims to get the full structure of the houses built by winter, so contractors and volunteers can start building out the inside and have them finished by spring.
The three Lockwood Avenue houses are the first Habitat for Humanity structures to be built in Austin. In April, Habitat for Humanity broke ground on four homes in the 5300 block of Ferdinand Street, though construction will start there next year. Those homes will have the same layout as those on Lockwood Avenue.
While the three buyers for the Lockwood Avenue homes have already been selected, Habitat for Humanity is still looking for current Austin residents to occupy the new homes on Ferdinand Street.
“We really want to help Austin residents stay in Austin,” Parks said. “People are getting pushed out. You’ve got Oak Park on one side, and the West Loop has been coming this way . . . [home] values are rising rapidly here in Austin.”
Coming to Austin
Right before the Covid-19 pandemic, the nonprofit Austin Coming Together and By the Hand Club for Kids — a Christ-centered, after-school program for children in kindergarten through high school — reached out to Habitat for Humanity about starting a home ownership partnership. They hadn’t found one since developing a quality-of-life plan for Austin.
“They’re looking at Austin being a community where people can be born and live out their entire life and into their senior years and thrive in healthy ways, with community safety and access to jobs and transportation, all the things we all want for us and for our neighbors,” Parks said.
By the Hand Club for Kids bought the seven lots in Austin from the Cook County Land Bank Authority, which acquires vacant and abandoned properties and makes them available for organizations to purchase. Parks said Habitat for Humanity will continue to look for additional properties to build on through the Cook County Land Bank.
Habitat for Humanity has built homes in Chicago for decades, but only 12 years ago started to focus on specific neighborhoods, according to Parks. The organization started in West Pullman, added Greater Grand Crossing, and is now in Austin.
“We’re really focused deeply in all three neighborhoods, and we don’t plan to add another neighborhood, nor do we plan to leave these three,” Parks said.
While house construction is the most visible of Habitat for Humanity’s efforts, it also has a neighborhood grants program that provides up to $5,000 to go toward something a community has identified as a priority — like a block club asking for money to improve their street.
“It takes time to make the investments, see the returns you want on them in terms of neighborhood health and investing in communities that have been uninvested or under-invested in,” Parks said. “We’re building relationships here, getting to know the neighbors here, getting to know folks that are at work right here locally. As we continue to foster this work, we’ll expand those efforts.”
Habitat for Humanity also offers Homebuyer University, which, for $30, offers multiple in-person or virtual classes about how to prepare for homeownership.
“It’s not specific to Habitat. It’s really specific to the home buying journey and looking at what do you need to be financially ready? How do I figure out where I want to live?” Parks said.
Those interested in buying a Habitat Chicago home can complete a self-assessment at habitatchicago.org/self-assessment.