Habitat, Thrivent Financial Complete 2,000th Home
Homebuilding ministry Habitat for Humanity International and not-for-profit partner Thrivent Financial for Lutherans celebrated the completion of their 2,000th home on Friday in Minneapolis.
The 2,000th home, which will be purchased by a low-income family, marks the culmination of a four-year, $125 million alliance between the two Christian organizations. During the four-year partnership, more than 1,300 homes were built in the United States along with nearly 700 homes in 32 countries through Thrivent Builds Worldwide.
Among the homes built include 35 homes in a holistic community in El Salvador and 68 homes constructed on the Mississippi Gulf Coast.
Get Our Latest News for FREE
"Thrivent Financial's alliance with Habitat for Humanity has improved thousands of lives around the world," said Jonathan Reckford, CEO of Habitat for Humanity International, in a statement. "Thrivent Financial has helped us deepen the impact of our work, and we are truly humbled by the servant leadership Thrivent and its members have displayed."
It took more than 350,000 volunteers who collectively donated nearly 2.5 million hours to construct the 2,000 homes for families that otherwise would not be able to afford a home.
"At Thrivent Financial, we understand that decent, affordable housing is vitally important to creating economic stability for families," said Bruce Nicholson, chairman, president and chief executive officer of Thrivent Financial. "The amazing results of this unprecedented alliance are a testament to just how much more we can accomplish – how we can strengthen communities and increase affordable housing opportunities – when we work together."
Thrivent Financial for Lutherans is a not-for-profit Fortune 500 financial services membership organization with about 2.6 million members. The group offers its members financial products and services including life insurance, annuities, mutual funds, disability income insurance, bank products and more while pledging to support programs and activities that help congregations, schools, charitable organizations and individuals in need.
Following the celebration of the 2,000th Thrivent Builds home, Habitat and Thrivent volunteers gathered at the Twin Cities Habitat for Humanity in Minneapolis to kick off the building of the 2,001st home Friday afternoon. The 2,001st home launches Thrivent Financial's 2010 commitment of $15 million to support the construction of 181 more Thrivent Builds homes in 37 states next year.
"As our country reflects on what went wrong with our economy and our housing market, the Thrivent Builds alliance represents everything that is right with America – compassion, generosity, hard work, and a commitment to rebuilding our community," said Susan Haigh, president and CEO of Twin Cities Habitat. "Thrivent embraces the hard working values that embody Habitat's homeownership model, and we are very excited to carry this partnership into 2010 and beyond."
Habitat for Humanity International is an ecumenical Christian ministry that is dedicated to addressing the problem of poverty housing. Since its founding in 1976, the ministry has built more than 300,000 houses worldwide that have sheltered more than 1.5 million people.
