Habitat Receives a $15,000 Grant from Wells Fargo to Build a Home in Cudjoe Key

Wells Fargo Builds helped fund Yandy & Yanet’s townhome in Cudjoe Key.

The girls are settling in to their new home.

Habitat for Humanity of Key West and the Lower Florida Keys recently received a $15,000 grant from the Wells Fargo Foundation to help build a home in their Moss Landing development on Cudjoe Key in the Lower Florida Keys.

Habitat for Humanity of Key West and the Lower Florida Keys is one of more than 230 Habitat for Humanity affiliates awarded a grant from the Wells Fargo Foundation as part of its nationwide initiative to help low to moderate income families build and improve their homes across the U.S.

At least one in six Florida households spend over half of their income on housing and the number of Lower Keys families who are struggling to afford decent housing is on the rise. According to the Shimberg Center for Housing Studies*, as of 2019, one in five of all Monroe County residents were paying over half of their income on housing. A staggering 48% of residents whose income fell at or below 80% of the Area Median Income were paying more than half of their income in housing.

“These numbers are bleak and they don’t even show the whole story,” says Kristina Welburn, Executive Director of Habitat Lower Keys. “Due to the extreme rise in home prices in the last 3 years, combined with the large influx of wealthy second home buyers in the Lower Keys, the crises of home affordability is now affecting a much larger portion of our population. Many working families are being forced to leave the area. We are so grateful to Wells Fargo for their support in our efforts to help local families build a place to call home.”

This funding is part of a $7.75 million donation to Habitat for Humanity International through the Wells Fargo Builds program to support the construction, renovation and repairing of more than 350 affordable homes across the U.S.

Driven by the vision that everyone deserves a decent place to live and the shortage of affordable housing in the Keys, Habitat for Humanity of Key West and the Lower Florida Keys was formed in 1993 as an affiliate organization of Habitat for Humanity International. Families and individuals in need of a hand up partner with Habitat to help build their own homes alongside volunteers and pay an affordable mortgage. Currently Habitat is working on completing a 16-unit affordable homeownership development, which will bring their total of homes built to 61. To learn more about Habitat, visit habitatlowerkeys.org.

*Estimates and projections by Shimberg Center for Housing Studies, based on U.S. Department of Housing Development, Comprehensive Housing Affordability Strategy (CHAS) dataset and population projections by the Bureau of Economic and Business Research, University of Florida