A Florida real estate developer has come up with a unique way to help alleviate the affordable housing shortage. For every home it sells, Beacon Real Estate will provide a full kitchen to its local Habitat for Humanity chapter.
The Naples, Fla. firm will donate $10,000 for each home it builds to Habitat for Humanity Collier County to fund the building of a kitchen in a Habitat home. In addition, Beacon employees participate in Habitat neighborhood tours, attend home dedication ceremonies, and meet each of the families what receive a kitchen. The firm lets its buyers know that a gift has made in their honor to build the kitchen of a Habitat home.
Since the partnership began, Beacon has funded the building of three kitchens in Habitat homes, with more to come in the near future. Beacon’s partnership with Habitat is a first of its kind for local builders in a market where the median home cost falls over the half million mark.
This partnership comes as Collier County, Fla., deals with an affordable housing crisis, with 18 families inquiring for every home that Habitat builds.
“Joe Belz and the team at Beacon are the perfect example of how an industry leader in the high end real-estate market can also be a leading contributor to those families who are struggling to find decent housing,” says Nick Kouloheras, Habitat Collier executive director. “The team at Beacon has developed a program that brings consumers, private industry and the nonprofit world together to address the local need for affordable housing.”
