Washington, D.C., Feb. 10, 2009 – The Housing Assistance Council and The Home Depot Foundation today announced grants totaling $315,000 to 21 local nonprofit rural housing associations to support green building techniques in homes owned or rented by low-income families. Grantees will use the funds to ensure that homes are more energy and water efficient, have good indoor air quality and provide a safe, healthy and affordable space to live.

“Green building and affordable housing for lower-income people are compatible goals,” said Moises Loza, executive director, Housing Assistance Council (HAC). “Even seemingly modest steps can be very important to make homes kinder to the environment, healthier for their residents and more affordable to operate. From Alabama to Arizona, the grantees announced today will now have the resources they need to make a sustainable community impact.”

As part of HAC’s Green Building/Healthy Homes Initiative, today’s announcement pairs capacity building grants with training and technical assistance activities and publications. The programs supported by these grants include single-family and multifamily housing development, as well as housing rehabilitation.

“The Home Depot Foundation has been proud to work with the Housing Assistance Council for the past four years to assist rural developers as they incorporate affordable, efficient, durable and healthy components in their housing production work,” said Kelly Caffarelli, president, The Home Depot Foundation. “Our support of HAC is part of our Affordable Housing Built Responsibly grant program, through which almost 15,000 homes were built in 2008.”

2008 Green Building/Healthy Homes Grantees
Habitat for Humanity Baldwin County, Alabama
Habitat for Humanity Desert Foothills, Arizona
South Arkansas Community Development, Arkansas
Self-Help Housing Corporation of Hawaii, Hawaii
Northeast Iowa Community Action Corporation, Iowa
Frontier Housing, Inc., Kentucky
Housing Development Alliance, Kentucky
Hilltown CDC, Massachusetts
Rural Development Inc., Massachusetts
Bishop Sheen Housing Foundation, Inc., New York
Greater Mount Airy Area Habitat for Humanity, North Carolina
NC Community Development Initiative, North Carolina
Little Dixie Community Action Agency, Inc., Oklahoma
Umpqua Community Development Corporation, Oregon
Fayette County Community Action Agency, Inc., Pennsylvania
Blount County Habitat for Humanity, Tennessee
Community Housing Partners Corporation, Virginia
OPAL Community Land Trust, Washington
Upper Valley MEND, Washington
Almost Heaven Habitat for Humanity, West Virginia
St. Croix Valley Habitat for Humanity, Inc., Wisconsin

About the Housing Assistance Council
Founded in 1971 and headquartered in Washington, D.C., the Housing Assistance Council is a national nonprofit corporation dedicated to helping local organizations build affordable homes in rural America by providing below-market financing, technical assistance, research, training, and information services. HAC’s programs focus on local solutions, empowerment, reduced dependency, and self-help strategies. HAC is an equal opportunity lender. To learn more, see www.ruralhome.org/ServicesTechAsst_GreenBuilding.php.

About The Home Depot Foundation
The Home Depot Foundation was created in 2002 to further the community building goals of The Home Depot. The Home Depot Foundation is dedicated to building affordable homes for working families that are healthy to live in and affordable to own. To make homes healthy and affordable, the Foundation encourages developers to incorporate responsible design and use durable and quality materials to ensure that homes are more energy and water efficient, have good indoor air quality, and provide a safe and healthy space to live. Since its formation, The Home Depot Foundation has granted $70 million to nonprofit organizations and supported the development of more than 50,000 affordable, healthy homes. For more information, visit www.homedepotfoundation.org.

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