Habitat for Humanity New York City is expanding our mission beyond the boundaries of the five boroughs and will now provide a hand-up to families across Westchester County. We are humbled and grateful to have the opportunity to serve this thriving, diverse and unique county and are so grateful for the support of all who join us on this journey.
New York City and Westchester are intrinsically linked – by communities, by commuter rail lines, and unfortunately, by a worsening housing crisis that pushes families farther and farther afield to find an affordable place to live.
You will hear more from us in the coming months as we begin our ‘listening tour’ to gather input from housing professionals and families across the county, learn about existing housing challenges, and ultimately how we can best position ourselves to help low- to moderate-income residents achieve the strength and stability that a safe, affordable home offers them. Our success will be rooted in the hearts and minds of New Yorkers of all backgrounds and experiences coming together to build and preserve homes for hard-working families.
We are thrilled to begin working to re-establish Habitat’s foundation in Westchester County.
The Need
Westchester is one of the wealthiest counties in the United States. But this wealth is not equally shared from city to city, village to village, family to family, or home to home.
In Westchester County…
140,000+
families are housing cost burdened
2,500+
families live in substandard housing
4,500+
families are severely overcrowded
$650,000 — Median valued home
$89,968 —Median household income
82,451
affordable housing units are needed
$19,345
annual tax bill of median valued home
$235,000
annual income needed to afford a median priced home
0
number of Westchester municipalities where the hourly wage worker can afford a two-bedroom apartment
All statistics from the Westchester Housing Needs Assessment
Our Innovative Impact in NYC
Habitat NYC has partnered with thousands of our neighbors in the five boroughs of New York City, bringing together volunteers to build homes and revitalize community spaces through our traditional model. But we also develop creative, innovative solutions in response to our City’s housing crisis – solutions like our Housing Preservation Program, our federally-certified CDFI, the Habitat NYC Community Fund and the Interboro CLT, the first city-wide CLT. We will bring this creativity, passion and adaptability to our work in Westchester.
Our Westchester Approach
We know that to be successful, our work must be guided by an understanding of the current landscape, the most urgent needs and the greatest opportunities, as well as informed by the region’s history.
We will take a regional, listen-first, collaborative approach to our work, including plans to:
- spend the first 12 months on a robust and comprehensive listening tour, engaging community stakeholders across the county in order to understand needs, gaps and how best to integrate into the affordable housing landscape.
- anchor this new chapter in the county, create a strong, community-centered organization and deliver programming that respects the diversity of communities in Westchester.
- engage volunteers in this important work alongside the families we serve in our traditional sweat equity model, helping to build and preserve homes and communities.
- continue to form partnerships with mission-driven developers to create affordable homeownership opportunities for hard-working families and invite all interested parties to contact us with potential opportunities to serve.
- serve Westchester with innovative solutions like
- Developing multi-family buildings
- Transit-oriented development
- Adaptive re-use of properties like churches and office spaces
- Accessory dwelling units
- Community land trusts and other permanently affordable options
- Conversion of rental buildings to homeownership
- Build on these engagements, seek opportunities to advance joint ventures and other significant collaborations, build local expertise and harness the resources of Habitat NYC to serve generations of Westchester residents.
What you can do
Sign up
Receive news from Habitat NYC—Stay up to date with everything we’re doing to serve communities from Yonkers to Peekskill, Armonk to Salem and everywhere in between.
Make a gift
Your gift to Habitat NYC will allow us to grow and support the expansion of our mission into Westchester County. A recurring gift will allow us to begin building in the county as soon as possible.
Re-establishing the ReStore
Habitat for Humanity ReStores are retail concepts that accept donations of gently used furniture, appliances, home décor and more and sell them to the public at up to 80% off retail value. Every dollar raised directly supports our mission to build and preserve housing.
Our small but mighty Woodside, Queens-based ReStore has been the top-selling store in the nation in terms of dollars per square foot, for the past three years. We are excited to be in the planning stages for our next ReStore which will be located in Westchester County. The location is yet to be determined.
In the meanwhile, we are scheduling donation pick-ups for areas across Westchester county now! Interested in donating your good quality home furnishings? Email restore@habitatnyc.org with a photo of the item and an associate will get back to you.
We are working to announce some Westchester county-based donation drop-off locations for ReStore materials soon. Stay tuned!
Get in touch
Drop us a line! Say hello, submit press inquiries, ask questions about our listening tour or let us know anything else on your mind. Email us at westchester@habitatnyc.org and we will get back to you.