General Growth Properties Partners with Habitat for Humanity to Help Needy Hawaii Families Build Safe, Affordable Housing
HONOLULU – General Growth Properties has joined forces with Habitat for Humanity in a unique three-year partnership aimed at ending one of the biggest problems facing Hawaii: lack of affordable housing.
GGP, a national real estate investment trust that owns and manages more than 200 malls in 45 states, hopes to raise $500,000 in 2007, which will help to defray the cost of building homes for people in need, in communities where GGP malls are located. GGP properties in Hawaii include Ala Moana Center, Ward Centers, and Windward Mall on Oahu; Prince Kuhio Plaza in Hilo; Queen Ka’ahumanu Center in Kahului; and Whalers Village in Kaanapali. These shopping centers will work together with their local HFH affiliates to raise awareness and funds to build affordable housing in their local markets. Habitat for Humanity is dedicated to eliminating poverty housing and homelessness around the world, and making decent shelter a matter of conscience and action. The organization has seven affiliates in Hawaii – including Hilo, Kona, Maui, Molokai, Honolulu, Leeward Oahu and Kauai.
“General Growth Properties is committed to giving back to our community in a meaningful way, and together with Habitat for Humanity we want to make a real difference in Hawaii’s housing situation,” said Sharon James, regional vice president of marketing for General Growth Properties. “A safe and affordable home is something no family in Hawaii should be without, and we encourage all of our employees and customers to join our effort to provide more local families access to this basic necessity.”
More than 96,000 Hawaii families -- or 22 percent of all households -- live in unsatisfactory conditions. Many of these local families have no home at all. The need for affordable housing is a huge issue in Hawaii with average home prices soaring over $600,000. HFH wants to break the cycle of poverty and homelessness by working in partnership with low-income families to build decent homes that they can afford to buy.
Through volunteer labor and donations of money and materials, Habitat for Humanity builds and renovates simple, decent houses with the help of homeowner (partner) families. Habitat is not a giveaway program. In addition to a modest down payment and the monthly mortgage payments, homeowners invest hundreds of hours of their own labor – “sweat equity” – into building their house and the homes of others.
“We are so thankful for the generosity and commitment of GGP in Hawaii. Their efforts to help put a roof over the heads of potentially dozens of Hawaii’s needy families will go a long way toward helping us end the lack of safe and affordable housing in our islands,” said Kathi Hasegawa, executive director of Hawaii Habitat for Humanity. “We hope GGP’s leadership will inspire the rest of our community to join us in our effort to address this critical issue. On behalf of the many families who will now be able to sleep in the safety of their own home, ‘mahalo’ to GGP, their employees and their loyal customers.”
In the coming weeks, GGP Hawaii will unveil a series of events across the state to raise awareness about the need for safe, affordable housing and get the community – and its employees – involved in a hands-on way. GGP will also offer its customers several opportunities to donate their time or money toward helping needy families move into simple, decent housing. These events include:
On May 25, Ala Moana Center will hold a one-day house-framing event on its parking deck to erect the frame of a two-bedroom house. The completed frame will then be transported in sections to the Leeward side of Oahu and used to build an actual home for a family in the that community. All of the labor will be completed entirely by volunteer GGP Hawaii employees.
Beginning in late May, each GGP mall across the islands will host a “Family Portraits” event. Each mall will display a 6-foot by 6-foot house frame in the mall’s common area.
The frame will be covered with thousands of stickers, each one representing a family in that particular community living in substandard housing conditions. Individuals can make a donation to Habitat for Humanity – and can remove one of the stickers, signifying that they have helped to improve the conditions of their less fortunate neighbors. Statewide, GGP is aiming to raise $50,000 to put towards materials and supplies for the homes Habitat for Humanity builds.
