A Brush with Kindness - LESSONS LEARNED Walter Fields, Manager – Housing Product, Construction Technologies, HFHI

Affiliate Summit 2012 Objective: To review some of the lessons learned and the changes made in ABWK since 2009.

Affiliate Summit 2012 Topics  What is ABWK  Family Selection  Scope of Work  Payment  Funding  Sweat Equity  Policies  Getting started

Affiliate Summit 2012 What is A Brush with Kindness? Exterior work that includes painting, patching, minor repair and landscaping on owner occupied homes. Is part of Habitat’s spectrum of housing interventions offered by the Construction Technologies Department for NRI. It is a Home Preservation product.

Affiliate Summit 2012 Where does it fit in Habitat? RepairsRehabsNew Homes WeatherizationHome Preservation Critical Home Repair

Affiliate Summit 2012 Policies and Procedures Fund Raising, Marketing, Family Selection, Construction Planning, Volunteer Management, Family Support, Cost Recovery Work Site (Single story, Multi-family, ABWK, Rehab, 2-Story)

Affiliate Summit 2012 Scope of Work (program) Determine your scope for ABWK services : Painting Landscaping Two-story homes Pre-1978 Cost limits Minor repairs Mobile homes

Affiliate Summit 2012 About 400 affiliates received 2012 survey 183 responded (about 45%)

Affiliate Summit 2012 Most (76%) do more than exterior paint, minor exterior repair and landscaping. 64% do ramps 54% do roof repair and/or replacement Other activities include energy efficient improvements, siding replacement, floor repair/replacement, code violations and accessibility improvements.

Affiliate Summit 2012 Scope of Work (house) A SOW helps you control costs. A SOW helps the volunteers and the Partner family know what is appropriate and allowable. Homeowners will always say “While you’re here….”.

Affiliate Summit 2012 Scope of Work (house) After the assessment of the home, create a written document the spells out what will get done – and no more. Have the homeowner sign it (part of Homeowner Agreement). Be specific about colors, location, type, materials, etcetera.

Affiliate Summit 2012 FUNDING Features of ABWK funding (this is not Cost Recovery): Attractive to smaller donors – youth groups, families, small businesses, schools, churches. Visible - donors see benefits immediately and frequently. Provides options - allows affiliates to offer an additional item on the fundraising menu. Corporate friendly – can be sold as “team training”. Repair rule #2 – Can act as contractors for other housing programs.

Affiliate Summit 2012 Funding is spread across many sources. “Private Grants” and “Other” seem to be the most valuable resources with 37% of the respondents saying “Most” of their funding comes from there. “Other” includes the Revolving Fund for Humanity, Collegiate Challenge groups, State Support Organization grants, ReStore sales and volunteer groups covering the cost of additional supplies.

Affiliate Summit 2012 ABWK Policies Only 2 rules are different for REPAIRS 1.ABWK homes must be owner-occupied. 2.When another affordable housing group covers the costs (CDBG, DOE, HUD). You can waive the cost recovery from the homeowner.

Affiliate Summit 2012 ABWK Policy Adjustments Adjust current policies to account for shorter, less expensive construction Policies should be written and applied consistently Policies help staff communicate expectations to the community at large, & volunteers, families and donors Two main areas of adjustment: Family Selection & Cost Recovery

Affiliate Summit 2012 Family Selection KEYS: Same eligibility guidelines Provide a hand up, not a hand-out Choose the family, then the house Create Partners, Ambassadors - so they’ll volunteer, donate & pay back the loan (Cost Recovery)

Affiliate Summit 2012 Family Selection Use your regular income levels Tempting to lower, but don’t Maximum cost burden should be 30% Consider the work needed vs. affordability As affordable as possible with giving it away Be aware of increased taxes and maintenance costs

Affiliate Summit 2012 FAMILY SELECTION Only 62% said they follow the Habitat Model by using the three criteria for Habitat eligibility: demonstrated need, willingness to partner and ability to pay. Almost 30% said they use the same Family Selection committee for ABWK and New Construction. 9% of respondents said their affiliates have a separate ABWK Family Selection committee or subcommittee 30% said their affiliates use a separate committee that deals with all aspects of ABWK

Affiliate Summit 2012 Family selection Sweat Equity is much shorter (minimum 8 hrs.) so creating the partner relationship must begin with the marketing and application process. Creating a contractor - client relationship makes you “just another guy in a truck”. Referrals are your best source of homeowners.

Affiliate Summit 2012

Almost 20% of respondents do not require sweat equity. The most common activities are working with the volunteers on workdays (79%), providing refreshments for volunteers on workdays (67%) and completing prep work before workdays (56%).

Affiliate Summit 2012 Pricing Determining Costs: –Formula for determining cost of ABWK project is the same formula used for new houses Cost of purchased building materials $_________ Value of donated building materials $_________ Insurance, permits, other direct costs $_________ Contracted labor $_________ Administrative costs (no more than 10%) $_________ Total Project Cost $_________

Affiliate Summit 2012 ABWK project costs, including the value of donated gifts-in-kind. A third of the respondents have costs under $500, and two-thirds of respondents said their ABWK projects cost less than $1000.

Affiliate Summit 2012 Payment Payment agreements more flexible than traditional mortgage agreements. Length of ABWK payment agreements: 1-3 years (generally). Payment agreements, in addition to homeowner’s existing housing costs, not to exceed 30% of income. Every attempt should be made to fit the payment to the partner family’s ability to pay.

Affiliate Summit 2012 Payment Three main options: –Immediate payment in full at time services are rendered. –For projects $3,000 or less, a “promissory note” - an unsecured zero interest payment agreement (include - to be paid in full at sale or transfer of property). –For projects more than $3,000, a “mortgage” - a secured zero interest payment agreement (include - to be paid in full at sale or transfer). Consider providing pre-payment incentives. Strong Family Selection helps ensure Payments Recovery!!

Affiliate Summit 2012 Payment Less than half (47%) of respondents said that their affiliates recover costs from the partner family (and on a widely varying scale). Most that do recover costs use unsecured, zero-interest loans. Fortunately, of those affiliates not requiring repayment, 48% are looking into developing policies and procedures to recover costs.

Affiliate Summit 2012 Getting Started Read the ABWK Guide The ABWK Guide contains the guidelines, philosophy and purpose of ABWK, and the tools needed to provide successful services. The guide can be found on My.Habitat Brush-with-Kindness-Guidehttp://my.habitat.org/download/g3215a/ABWK---A- Brush-with-Kindness-Guide

Affiliate Summit 2012 Getting Started Go slowly. Take on less than you think you can handle. Use HFH Partner Families. You already have a personal and financial relationship with them. Get referrals. City, churches, neighborhood associations, other social service agencies, etc. (this is why NRI is a perfect fit for ABWK).

Affiliate Summit 2012 Getting Started Strategic uses for ABWK Eliminate NIMBY Reinvest in your homes and families Create a positive cash flow

Affiliate Summit 2012 ABWK Resources ABWK department is here to help! HABITAT x 5060 Program Specialist: SaraBeth Sellers Manager – Housing Product: Walter Fields