Dallas Habitat for Humanity helps staff purchase homes
The Dallas Area Habitat for Humanity is using part of the $9 million gift it received from philanthropist MacKenzie Scott in March to provide its staff members a new employee benefit — $13,500 in the form of a forgivable loan to help with a down payment or closing costs on a home
Rebecca Thompson was about to sign a lease for an apartment with a friend in early 2020 when businesses started shutting down because of the COVID-19 pandemic. So instead, the 34-year-old decided to stay with her parents to save money. But with home prices skyrocketing in Dallas, she thought she’d never be able to buy her own home.
That changed suddenly in July when her employer, the Dallas Area Habitat for Humanity, announced a new employee benefit: $13,500 in the form of a forgivable loan to help with a down payment or closing costs on a home.
“After that meeting, there was a buzz in the air,” Thompson says. “Everybody was so excited.”
Thompson, who works in the nonprofit’s fundraising office, expressed her interest right then and there. “I was literally the first person,” she says. “I don’t even think the slide had gone off the screen.”
