Los Angeles, CA—August 28, 2020: As cities and states reopen, Habitat for Humanity of Greater Los Angeles (Habitat LA) is eager to safely resume operations in the Los Angeles area, where one in five people are spending more than half of their income on housing, leaving them less able to cover other basic necessities like food and health care. With funds awarded by the Corporation for National and Community Service, Habitat LA will secure ten Habitat AmeriCorps positions in community outreach construction crew leadership, donor relations, event planning, and volunteer services.
The shortage of safe, decent and affordable housing was already at crisis levels prior to the pandemic. Now, with 19.5% of people filing for unemployment in Los Angeles County, the situation is far worse.
“The response to our call to join the ranks of Habitat LA AmeriCorps has been a huge blessing,” said Erin Rank, President and CEO of Habitat LA. “The additional dedicated support will help us address the needs of low-income families and communities across Los Angeles who have been hit hardest as a result of the pandemic.”
Danielle joined the AmeriCorps team last year to redesign and relaunch Habitat LA’s website.
AmeriCorps have been a vital part of Habitat LA’s mission over the years; building homes, communities and hope in many ways. In 2018, recent college graduate, Danielle Corpus, joined the AmeriCorps team to redesign and relaunch Habitat LA’s website, with the goal to make it an authoritative resource for the Greater Los Angeles community. The work achieved during Danielle’s one-year tenure in the Marketing and Communications department produced a user-friendly website, allowing the community to easily access critical information about affordable housing solutions. After completion of her service, Danielle was hired as a full-time Habitat LA employee, continuing her impactful work increasing website traffic by 17% in one year.
“Being an AmeriCorps with Habitat LA was the most rewarding feeling,” said Danielle. “I went from not having very many web development skills at all, to feeling completely comfortable independently managing a website that receives 20,000 views a month!”
AmeriCorps members apply for and serve full-time for at least a year at local Habitat organizations across the country and are paid a stipend for their service. Habitat for Humanity covers roughly half the cost of each service member, delivering results at a much lower cost than direct government services.
Habitat AmeriCorps members have been proudly serving communities across the country for over 25 years. Habitat LA has been a proud participant in the program since its’ inception in 1994. More than 11,256 AmeriCorps members have worked with Habitat to serve more than 122,758 individuals, engaging more than 4.2 million volunteers and raising tens of millions of dollars to meet the housing needs of families in the U.S. To learn more about Habitat AmeriCorps and how to get involved, visit habitat.org/americorps.
About Habitat for Humanity of Greater Los Angeles
Habitat for Humanity of Greater Los Angeles (Habitat LA) brings people together to build homes, communities and hope. As the top nonprofit residential homebuilder in the greater Los Angeles area with a Charity Navigator 4-Star rating for eight consecutive years and the Platinum GuideStar status for transparency, Habitat LA has partnered with volunteers, donors and Habitat homeowners to build, renovate and repair more than 1,000 homes locally since 1990. The lives of thousands of individuals have been transformed as a result of having a decent and affordable place to call home. Habitat homeowners help build their own homes and pay an affordable mortgage. By supporting Habitat LA through volunteerism, donations and supporting affordable housing, everyone can help families achieve the stability and self-reliance they need to build a better future. To learn more, visit www.habitatla.org.
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Media Contact:
Genetric Brown
Habitat for Humanity of Greater Los Angeles
C: 310-808-5902
gbrown@habitatla.org
