Beyond Four Walls and a Roof
East Bay/Silicon Valley Habitat for Humanity recently commissioned an independent
study to assess the social impact of Habitat home ownership. In addition to providing
resident families with a safe place to live and room to grow, the study shows the move
helped people thrive in a variety of other ways. Here are a few of the findings.
Community
Pride
December 2018/January 2019 49
and desperate need for affordable housing
is everywhere. It allowed us to dig in and
get to work.”
Habitat EBSV now has two offices, one
in the South Bay and another in the East
Bay, along with dozens of construction
sites and four ReStores, which sell used
furniture, appliances and other household
items to raise money for housing activities.
At the same time, since her affiliate has
expanded, Jensen has less time to spend
with the families who need homes and the
volunteers. She misses that part of the job.
“My biggest frustration is that I don’t get
to do that as much as I used to,” she says.
“When I started in 2005, we were very small
and I knew every family member, every
kid, everybody. I can’t say that anymore
because we’re now spread so thin, and my
job has grown so much. I do spend a lot
of my time in advocacy and policy work,
but sadly, I don’t get out to meet as many
people as I used to.”
But from time to time, Jensen does get
to make it out to the building sites, and on
occasion, she’s found celebrities—such as
President Jimmy Carter, Green Day band
members, Garth Brooks and Trisha Yearwood—
working side by side with other
volunteers on new homes.
“You never know who you’re going to
meet at a Habitat work site,” Jensen quips.
In addition to her high-powered job as
president and CEO of the regional organization,
Jensen is also on the board of directors
for the affordable housing advocacy
group SV@Home and Habitat for Humanity
California: State Support Organization
and serves on the board of governors for
the California Housing Consortium. In
addition, she is vice chair of Habitat for
Humanity International’s U.S. Council,
which is like a board for all of the Habitat
affiliates in the country.
“I love running my local affiliate because
that puts me in the community, but I also
like having a foot on the international stage,
too,” says Jensen, who recently was getting
ready for a trip to Nepal to visit a Habitat
group there. “It’s nice to get a macro
view of Habitat worldwide. It gives you a
broader perspective, and then I bring that
back home.”
WOMAN OF INFLUENCE
In recognition of her commitment to and
major impact on affordable housing options,
the Silicon Valley Business Journal
named her a 2017 Woman of Influence, an
honor that Jensen sheepishly acknowledges.
For more information,
read the full social
impact study results
at https://www.habitatebsv.
org/impact/
impact-studies. The
site also features the
results of an independent
study that shows
some of the economic
impacts of East Bay/
Silicon Valley Habitat
for Humanity home
ownership.
Health,
Safety and
Well-Being
Savings for
the Future
Education
Before the move,
about 40 percent of
respondents would
say they were proud
of where they lived.
After the move, 98
percent said they
were proud to say
where they lived.
70 percent of
homeowners saw
overall improvements
in family health
problems. 94 percent said they
now feel safe in their
homes. 98 percent said owning
a home improved
how they felt about
themselves.
40% Students living in Habitat
homes saw a 40 percent
improvement in their grades;
34 percent improved their
behavior and 54 percent
became more confident
about school.
87% 87 percent of Habitat kids
graduate from high school,
surpassing the overall
national average (83 percent)
and the national average.
45% 45 percent of Habitat kids
exceeded the education level
of their parents.
• Only 17 percent
of families earned
more than $40,000
a year before
moving in to their
new homes. This
more than tripled
to 54 percent of
families after
moving in.
• The number of
families with more
than $5,000 in
retirement savings
doubled.
• The number of
families with more
than $10,000 in
overall household
savings also
doubled.