Greater Des Moines Habitat for Humanity, founded in 1986, celebrated a major milestone in early October when volunteers gathered in a parking lot of the Wells Fargo Jordan Creek campus in West Des Moines and began work to build the nonprofit’s 500th home .
The walls that began to rise will become part of a 1,200-square-foot house near Northeast 46th Street and Hubbell Avenue in Des Moines. Also sweetening the occasion: Wells Fargo’s foundation announced a $500,000 donation to Habitat.
The group, which serves Polk, Dallas and Jasper counties, has picked up its building pace. It took 22 years for the group to build its 100th home. This year, it will complete 36 houses and is looking at 40 next year, CEO Lance Henning told business reporter Kevin Baskins.
At the same time, the need for affordable housing continues to grow. An estimated 58,000 households in the metro spend more than 30% of their income on housing, according to a 2018 workforce housing study .
Habitat and its volunteers do more than build homes. “It’s about building hope,” Henning said. “We are allowing people to participate in the American dream.”