Indian River Habitat for Humanity homeowners and future homeowners were the guests of honor at a Moorings Habitat Partnership Committee Sponsor Luncheon at the Moorings Yacht and Country Club, where a check for $800,000 was presented to Trevor Loomis, Habitat CEO.
The funds, a combined amount raised through their 2024 Classic Habitat Weekend and the Moorings’ Community Contribution Tax Credit Program, were slated to build six new homes, repair 17 homes and provide 15 scholarships.
Mark Parent, committee chairman, invited Gabrielle Burke, who is working toward buying the 100th Moorings sponsored Habitat home, to speak about her journey. Potential homeowners are required to put in hundreds of sweat equity hours, take financial and home ownership classes, and pay taxes and mortgages.
Burke entered the Homebuyer program in June 2023 and related that her family had frequently moved during her childhood, a situation that continued into her adulthood.
“As a child that uncertainty made it hard to feel safe or grounded,” said Burke, who wanted to spare her own young daughter that same uncertainty.
“My daughter will have something solid, something permanent where she can feel safe, have a space to play, to dream and to grow,” said Burke. “This home will not just be another house. It is a promise to my daughter that she will always have a place to call home, a home where she and I can create memories that will last a lifetime.”
Having met the required sweat equity allowance, she has chosen a lot and her dream will soon be a reality.
“But none of this would have been possible without the support of Habitat and the Moorings helping me reach higher than I ever thought I could,” said Burke in appreciation.
Parent announced that 12 of the 96 Moorings-sponsored homes have paid off their mortgages and said that money will be recycled to enable other homes to be purchased. Over the past 25 years, he said the Moorings has contributed more than $13 million, which translates to 318 families and 102 new homes.
Craig Lopes, Moorings CEO, spoke about the CCTCP, which redirects sales tax to Habitat based on the volunteer hours from club members, employees and supporters who work on houses and in Habitat’s Restore.
“Without that volunteer effort, the club’s contributions would not have been possible. On behalf of the club and management and staff, I’d like to express our appreciation of the opportunity to support Moorings Club members’ charitable efforts, and to thank you for your generosity, which makes our work together for Habitat so impactful,” said Lopes.
Loomis commented that the generous Moorings Habitat relationship was unlike anything he had seen in other communities.
“We’ve all heard of the American dream, many of us have experienced it. But that dream that we were sold as we were growing up is becoming harder and harder for people to attain,” said Loomis.
In the late 1990s, he said the cost of a median priced house was about two and one-half times the median annual income in the United States; today it is about seven times that amount, moving the dream further out of reach.
“So, if we want to protect the American dream, we’ve got to invest in programs that make it happen. And that is something that you all as a community have chosen to do and for that we are so grateful. You have done so much; it’s so meaningful,” said Loomis.
For more information, visit IRCHabitat.net.
Photos by Joshua Kodis
