2023 In Review

Dec 28

As 2023 draws to a close on 2023, we are looking back at the year that was for West Tuality Habitat for Humanity and the community we serve. Below is an overview of the key moments for us this year; each link provides more information.

In 2023, we completed the final home in our seven-home Kidd Court development in Forest Grove, Oregon, and in August, we held our final home dedication there. Now, our attention turns to our 11-unit development at Countryman Estates which, as 2024 begins, will be ready for new construction. The Countryman Estates development is made possible in part because of the efforts of US Rep. Suzanne Bonamici to include funding for West Tuality Habitat in a funding package signed by the President early in the year. Our groundbreaking for the Countryman Estates this year drew many VIPS to Forest Grove.

Over the year, our staff led hundreds of volunteers in helping with critical home repairs and neighborhood cleanups for more than 169 vulnerable households, serving seniors, people with disabilities, veterans and people on very low, limited incomes. Since 2018, we’ve helped more than 400 households in Western Washington County, thereby improving their quality of life and, in many cases, allowing people to age in place.

Engaging volunteers in our work helps us involve our community as partners, so they can see first hand what our organization does and how, and to share their talents and energy with their neighbors to help make safe, affordable housing a reality for more people. We also want our volunteer engagement to build the capacities of volunteers regarding basic home repairs, teamwork and leadership. A great example of this was our 2023 West Tuality Habitat Women’s Build.

We presented a Lifetime Achievement Award to Architect Kerry VanderZanden in appreciation of 30 years’ service with the Forest Grove-based nonprofit. VanderZanden has designed every development project and home built by West Tuality in the last 30 years – 27 homes in total. And at our annual Dream Builders Breakfast, a special presentation was made in honor of one of our Habitat affiliate's founding members, the late Glenn Cooper. The honor was received by Glenn's son Brian and his wife, Susan, who are core volunteers with West Tuality Habitat, helping with home construction and home repairs each week. Cooper’s Corner, another development in Forest Grove built by affiliate volunteers, is named in his honor.

The year saw us engaged in high-profile advocacy regarding access to safe, affordable housing at the local, state and federal level: our Executive Director, Virginia Ohlner addressed the Forest Grove City Council, resulting in spontaneous applause at the end of her presentation. West Tuality Habitat Staff joined others in advocacy efforts in Salem and in Washington, DC at “Habitat on the Hill.” Such advocacy is critical for continuing to attract funding to help us help more people in our community.

As the year draws to an end, we have more than 20 homes in the early planning stages of construction, and this was made possible per the hard work of Habitat staff and volunteers, through many meetings, written proposals, research activities and negotiations, as well as the generosity and participation of a variety of community partners. In the Fall, West Tuality Habitat secured a unique “Self Help” Grant, a federal funding program that combines “sweat equity” homeownership opportunities with technical assistance and affordable loans for America’s rural families. We will have many more updates about how this program is implemented with the families we support in 2024, as well as announcements of other new programs and partnerships.

It was with great pride that we were able to announce that West Tuality Habitat had once again achieved the Platinum Seal of Transparency, the highest level of recognition offered by GuideStar, the world's largest source of nonprofit information. This rating puts our nonprofit in the top 0.1% of charities nationally in terms of financial transparency - meaning you can see how much money we earn (and from where), how much we spend (and to what), and more.

We received several special gifts from the community, including through a partnership with Friends of Forest Grove Library and via a generous donation from representatives of the Oregon division of D. R. Horton Homes, a home construction company that is the largest homebuilder by volume in the USA. In addition to donations from various grants and individuals, we also received financial support via our Annual Golf Tournament. and our annual Spring Gala. And while not a fundraiser, our Christmas Choral Concert was a Big Hit!

In April, several of our staff, volunteers and board members, half of them new to our organization, attended the Habitat for Humanity Western Region Conference in Portland, much of which was focused on DEI. We learned SO much and are still using the knowledge gained to improve our work. One of the things that inspired us was the closing Keynote Address by New York Times best-selling author Heather McGhee. All of the materials from the conference are still available at this web site. Attending these kinds of learning events is crucial in building our staff capacities to best serve our community.

It was a very big year for our ReStore as well: we were able to expand our covered outdoor shoping with repurposed building from the site of Countryman Estates. Core volunteers from our home construction and home repair teams, as well as participants in Portland Youth Builders and several groups of volunteers were essential in this year-long process. The ReStore also implemented a new point-of-sale system, allowing for quicker transactions, no minimum required for credit card purchases, and easier way to create gift cards. Our ReStore also welcomed the participation of dozens of volunteers assisting customers and saw some of its biggest sales months to date.

A profoundly sad part of our year was the passing of Chris Garfield, a member of our board who has provide so much time and energy to our work. Going through our archive and finding so many photos of Chris participating in our events gave us much to reflect on, and we continue to mourn his loss and keep the family in our prayers.

As we enter 2024, we hope you will consider becoming involved with West Tuality Habitat for Humanity. We have a variety of volunteering opportunities (and not all involve a hammer!) - whether you are looking for a one-time, half-day experience or something that lasts for weeks, whether you are looking for something outdoors or indoors, whether your are part of a group or on your own, we’ve got a volunteering experience for you.

We also hope you will consider making a one-time financial gift or an ongoing, regular monthly or quarterly gift. Our web site makes it oh-so-easy to donate.

Also see our 2023 annual report (PDF).