NEWSWORTHY

Habitat for Humanity International and Calvert Social Investment Foundation (Calvert Foundation) today announced the launch of the Habitat for Humanity International Investment Program, which will enable people to support Habitat for Humanity as they make affordable housing part of their investment portfolio. The notes may be invested for one, three, five, seven or 10 years, and investors choose to earn an interest rate up to 2 percent. The full value of the principal is then loaned to Habitat for Humanity, enabling Habitat to obtain access to low-cost, flexible capital, which then will be used to serve more families and build houses at a faster rate. 

At maturity, investors may collect the principal and interest accrued, or they may reinvest to support Habitat and help provide a sustainable solution to fighting poverty. Investors also have the option of making a tax-deductible donation of their interest to Habitat for Humanity.

“The vast need for decent, affordable housing in our world means that we have to be creative in our response to it, while staying true to Habitat’s mission,” said Jonathan Reckford, CEO of Habitat for Humanity International. “This exciting opportunity with Calvert Foundation will generate more capital to help further that mission. As supporters invest in the Habitat Investment Program, we will be able to strengthen our capacity, which, in turn, will allow us to invest in more families as together we build simple, decent homes worldwide.”  

> More on the Habitat Investment Program

Community investing as a tool to combat poverty in the U.S. and other nations is making a big splash in the mainstream financial world, helping to support thousands of jobs, home purchases and the operations of nonprofits and other community-oriented groups.

Chicago-based Incapital and Calvert Foundation announced last month that over $20 million in Community Investment Notes have been purchased through Incapital since Calvert Foundation became the first nonprofit to offer a security on their platform.  Calvert Foundation’s Community Investment Notes – a trusted way to fight poverty through investments in affordable housing, small business job creation, microlending, and other community-based efforts – were first made available nationally through Incapital’s network of more than 400 brokerage firms in November 2005.  This arrangement allows investors to purchase and hold Community Investment Notes in their brokerage accounts. 

Incapital President and CEO Tom Ricketts said: “We are pleased to announce the important milestone of surpassing the $20 million mark since we began distributing Community Investment Notes on our platform.  We are pleased to be able to support Calvert Foundation’s outstanding track record of making a difference for people in disadvantaged communities and we are excited to be playing an active role in their efforts.”

> Find a financial advisor near you

PORTFOLIO NEWS

Calvert Foundation is pleased to announce that Habitat for Humanity International (HFHI) has joined our portfolio!

We are excited to embark on a special investment initiative with HFHI that allows investors to target their Community Investment Notes directly to Habitat, helping them build more homes at a faster rate, which helps families around the world.

Habitat for Humanity International (HFHI) is a nonprofit, ecumenical Christian housing ministry. HFHI seeks to eliminate poverty housing and homelessness from the world, and to make decent shelter a matter of conscience and action. Through volunteer labor and donations of money and materials, Habitat builds and rehabilitates simple, decent houses with the help of the homeowner (partner) families. Habitat houses are sold to partner families at no profit and financed with affordable loans. The homeowners' monthly mortgage payments are used to build still more Habitat houses.

Client Population
Habitat is a worldwide, grassroots movement. Habitat has a presence in more than 90 countries, including all 50 United States, the District of Columbia, Guam and Puerto Rico. Pictured left: Michel and Vividha, along with their five children stand in front of their nearly-completed new Habitat house in Kattapuly, India.

Impact
In 2007, a record high number of families had a better place to live because of Habitat, which built, rehabilitated and repaired 49,039 new homes. Habitat has provided 279,723 housing solutions to families since 1976. Furthermore, by the end of 2007, Habitat was helping another family improve its housing situation every 10 minutes.

> Learn more about Habitat for Humanity

SPOTLIGHT ON

Calvert Foundation has raised more than $150 million over the last 12 years through the Community Investment Note programs and, as a result, has helped create more than 12,500 affordable homes. In light of the current credit crisis in the real-estate market, and its disproportionately negative effect on low-income homeowners, Calvert Foundation is working hard to preserve the availability of affordable capital to communities in need. Affordable Housing currently makes up 19 percent of our well-diversified portfolio, which also includes microfinance, community development financial institutions, fair trade, social enterprise and more.

The community investment industry is proactively taking a leadership position to craft solutions to the housing crisis, and we are committed to Affordable Housing, having incorporated this sector into our portfolio from the beginning. This sector includes Housing Developers (67 percent) and Housing Lenders, the majority of which are certified community development finance institutions focused on housing (33 percent).

The nonprofits we work with tend to have lower foreclosure rates than market-rate lenders because they have avoided exotic mortgages, have excellent counseling programs, really know the communities they serve and are usually in it for the long haul – meaning they originate and service the loan.

These groups also have come up with creative solutions to the housing crisis. Take, for example, Calvert Foundation portfolio partner St. Ambrose Housing Aid Center in Baltimore, which offers a Homesharing Program that helps to keep people in their homes. This program helps match boarders with homeowners that are seeking extra income to keep up with mortgage payments. This program has been successful in creating win-win situations for both boarders and homeowners.

> Read about St. Ambrose Housing Aid Center in the New York Times

ASK SHARI

Many individuals already donate to Habitat for Humanity and wonder how community investment capital fits into the picture. Isn’t a donation enough? 

While gifts play an important role, invested capital creates a sustainable, scalable solution to meet Habitat’s broader capital needs. Such community investment can be used to acquire land and finance the cost of building homes for the many low-income families served through local Habitat affiliates. While donations are needed to meet a lot of ongoing day-to-day expenses, Habitat needs flexible capital on affordable terms to deliver on its' promise of building affordable homes for those most in need.

Calvert Foundation and Habitat for Humanity have teamed up to offer this program together. Community Investment Notes sold through this program will provide capital to Habitat that they will distribute to their affiliates. This money will be used to build more homes at a faster rate. With Habitat’s excellent reputation and incredible impact on families here in the U.S. and in developing countries, we are confident that they will be able to maintain a thriving and sustainable investment program that serves their growth for years to come. 

Now there is a sustainable way for Habitat supporters to get involved in a long-term strategy that uses investment – which is returned with interest – to meet the needs of thousands of communities here in the U.S. and around the globe. 

> Ask Shari a question.