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Habitat for Humanity Repair and Rebuild Collaborations Give Shelter to Many

Habitat for Humanity (Habitat) continues its mission to provide housing to underserved residents globally. It has formed partnerships with corporate organizations that further its cause. In 2024 and 2025, Habitat collaborated with Wells Fargo, State Farm, Henkel, and Nissan to fund repair and rebuild projects.

Finding affordable housing has become challenging owing to increases in rent, limited availability of housing, and flattening wage increases. Some believe the country has a housing shortage of over seven million units, particularly in limited-income communities.

In a July 2024 press release, Habitat announced that the Wells Fargo Foundation contributed $6.3 million in grant funding through its Wells Fargo Builds initiative. The funding will go toward building, renovating, and repairing over 280 homes in 175 locales nationwide. As home prices climb nationwide, homeownership has become less accessible for many Americans. In California, for example, almost 38 percent of households feel cost-burdened. A full 20 percent of households feel severely cost burdened, defined as >30 percent of their income going to housing costs. Nevertheless, Habitat's work with the Wells Fargo Builds program culminated in 65 volunteers donating more than 500 hours to building the Walnut Creek development Esperanza Place in 2023. This collaboration has relieved residents' worry over increasing rental costs and provides access to schools, transit, security, and stability.

The same month, Habitat worked with the global marketing company Henkel. Henkel's role was to provide funding and donate recycled construction materials to the Greater Cleveland Habitat for Humanity. Together they built the Loctite 2nd Chance House in Westlake, Ohio in addition to affordable housing in Cleveland. The collaboration culminated in the repair of 43 homes and 27 newly constructed homes between 2016 and 2023. In 2024, the two organizations built an additional 11 homes.

July 2024 was a busy month for Habitat, as it also joined with State Farm to encourage youth to contribute their time to building homes. State Farm awarded $820,000 in funding to mobilize youth participation through Habitat's Habitat Strong initiative, a global disaster resilience program. This project differs from the others in that it focuses on building affordable homes and helping homeowners ensure they are disaster-ready. The purpose is to repair homes to meet industry building codes and ensure that if a weather event does occur, the house can withstand its impacts. State Farm has worked with Habitat since 2007 to establish youth-focused programs, increasing its support to include Habitat Strong in 2023. In 2023, this collaboration saw 3,000-plus young people working and supporting some 500 residents worldwide.

The organization's work with Nissan Americas differs slightly from its usual model. The car manufacturer will help families this time by supporting vehicle ownership, housing sponsorships, and other Habitat for Humanity global initiatives. While the April 2025 news release did not give a specific figure, Nissan has contributed more than $21 million to the organization since beginning its partnership in 2005, following Hurricane Katrina. Following Katrina alone, Nissan donated 50 trucks and mobilized employees to assist in relief efforts. Since then, Nissan has donated 163,000 vehicles and more than 180,000 employee hours. Donations this year will go toward funding Habitat for Humanity in Chicago, IL, in St. Croix and its chapter located on Long Island.

While each of the partner organizations differs from one another, their missions are similar: giving back to the community by making affordable housing more accessible. These partnerships are part of Habitat for Humanity's mission to enlist community help from corporations and individuals.