Strategic Plan

Approved by Board of Directors
April 20, 2004

Arundel Habitat For Humanity
FY 2005 - 2010 Strategic Plan

Introduction
On January 8, 1987, nine individuals met with the vision of helping families who were living in substandard housing in Anne Arundel County. From that initial meeting, Arundel Habitat for Humanity was formed. Since then, the vision of the original organizers has been nurtured and expanded. As of year-end 2003, over 60 families have moved into their own simple, decent homes thereby giving them the chance to achieve dignity, hope, integrity and self worth.

Arundel Habitat for Humanity has been quite successful over these past 17 years, however God’s plan for us is far from complete. There are many challenges ahead. The purpose of this Strategic Plan is to identify and address these challenges, building on our strengths, correcting our weaknesses, and moving forward in our mission to eliminate substandard housing in Anne Arundel County.

Approach
At the yearly retreat in January 2003, the Arundel Habitat for Humanity (AHFH) Board of Directors, along with the Executive Director, met to discuss strategic issues facing this organization. With the help of a facilitator, the group identified Strengths, Weaknesses, Threats and Opportunities facing AHFH. These initial discussions formed the basis for the development of this new five-year Strategic Plan. With this input, and using "A Model for Affiliate Capacity Building" as a guide, the Strategic Planning Committee (SPC) worked with the facilitator to develop a plan that addresses these issues and will be the framework for progress over the next five to six years.

The first step for the SPC was to characterize the existing organization and identify the functions that the staff and each committee presently perform. Each existing function was then compared to the "Four Stages of Affiliate Growth" model identified in the Capacity Building guide to determine the similarity and variations in the areas of Leadership and Management; Policies, Procedures and Systems; and Resource Development. This process resulted in the determination that AHFH appears to be favorably positioned to transition from a "Block Builder" (5-9 houses per year) into a "Neighborhood Builder" (10-20 houses per year) in the near future and achieve the level of "Community Builder" by 2010. It was recognized that specific activities and enhancements will be essential for this evolution and there are a number of risk areas.

Once this process was complete, the SPC stepped back to look at other goals related to the AHFH total mission. Using inputs from the January retreat and insight of the SPC members, overall goals for the next five years were developed. In order to capture the goals at the strategic level as well as those directly related to specific significant activities, all goals were accepted for discussion. Each goal was then reviewed by the SPC and categorized as Strategic or Specific. The difference being; Strategic goals relate to the overall mission for the affiliate while Specific goals relate to individual initiatives that are necessary to accomplish our Strategic goals and are important enough to be considered by themselves. These goals were then reviewed as to their relevancy to this Strategic Plan.

Five-year Strategic goals.
As Arundel Habitat for Humanity continues to grow, it is essential that Board members, Staff, and volunteers, recognize and renew their commitment to this ministry and its mission. The following Strategic Goals have been identified in order to meet this mission and provide focus and guidance in the coming five years.

Strategic Goal 1 — Become a Community Builder by June 2010.
To meet the pressing need of eliminating substandard housing in Anne Arundel County, it is essential that AHFH become a "Community Builder"; i.e. provide simple decent, affordable housing for more than 20 families a year. In order to complete this goal, AHFH will establish and maintain a sustainable growth rate starting in FY2004. This goal will help ensure that our slogan of "50 Houses — 50 More" becomes a reality.

Specific Goals
Specific goals essential to becoming a Community Builder by 2010 are:

• Become a Neighborhood builder during FYE 2005 (ie 10-20 houses) and sustain that level for the next 5 years. Our specific goal for FYE 2004 was to provide simple, decent housing for 10-12 families. We will sustain that goal during FYE 2005, and add incremental increases in the subsequent years to 2010.
  • Evaluate existing construction practices to ensure operational and cost efficiency, by FYE 2005
  • Evaluate operating practices to reduce administrative costs and maximize the effectiveness of their expenditure.
• Develop and maintain a Family Bank (a list of approved families) equal to at least 150% of our goal for a given FY, i.e. if goal is 15 families transitioning into simple decent housing then we must have 22-23 families on the waiting list. To accomplish this AHFH will:
  • Market to families living in existing, owner-occupied substandard housing, by FYE 2005.
  • Build six months into our schedule for the Family Selection committee to increase the "family bank" and another 5 months for families to earn their initial 150 sweat equity hours.
  • Expand the family selection criteria for "inadequate/substandard" housing to include housing cost burden, by FYE 2004.
  • Expand marketing efforts to all potential applicants, particularly the Spanish speaking community, by FYE 2005.
  • Evaluate the current sweat equity requirement (i.e. 500 hours) to determine if it poses a barrier to the building schedule and timely transfer of title to the families, by FYE 2004.
• Maintain a land bank of buildable lots (with permits) equal to at least 150% of house goal for a given year, and have active pursuit/negotiations underway for land acquisition of 200% of house goal for a given year.
  • Focus on the rehabilitation of existing houses to expand our land bank and simultaneously eliminate substandard structures.
• Expand Resource Development to keep pace with transition from the
  Neighborhood Builder to Community Builder.
  • Open previously planned ReStore (to be called "Renovation Station") by FYE 2004
  • Expand corporate house sponsorships by FYE 2005
  • Develop partnerships and house sponsorships with new Faith Communities, by FYE 2005
  • Develop and implement a Capital Campaign to fund significant land acquisition and other capital asset needs, by FYE 2006.

In order to effectively transition from Block Builder to Neighborhood Builder to Community Builder, AHFH must have in place appropriate Leadership and Management; Policies, Procedures and Systems; and Resource Development. Therefore, it is vitally important that the AHFH Board establish a Specific Goal to periodically reassess the structure of the affiliate.

• Perform bi-annual assessments of AHFH’s Leadership and Management; Policies, Procedures and Systems; and Resource Development, beginning FYE 2004 and continuing in 2006, 2008 and 2010.

Strategic Goal 2 - Make the decision whether Arundel Habitat for Humanity will accept the 21st Century Challenge no later than June 2006.
Whether to undertake Habitat for Humanity International’s 21st Century Challenge is a major decision for AHFH. This challenge will require a significant effort to move into the quasi-political world to help facilitate solving the complex housing issues of the needy in Anne Arundel County. See Appendix for a description of the 21st Challenge.

As an integral part of this effort, AHFH will be successful if other governmental and non-governmental organizations join in taking action to reduce the amount of substandard housing in the county. This goal will be measured by the reduction of substandard housing in our county as a result of actions of organizations other than AHFH.

Specific Goals
Specific goals directly related to making this decision are:

• Expand our advocacy efforts in Anne Arundel County to spread the message that it is socially, politically and morally unacceptable for any one to be living in substandard housing in the 21 century, by FYE 2004.
• Study the feasibility of AHFH accepting the 21st Century Challenge, by FYE 2004. o Establish working group and leadership by FYE 2004.
  • Finalize definition of substandard housing and research the extent of substandard housing in AA county, using county records, by December 2004.
  • Identify location of actual substandard dwellings in AA county by FYE 2005 and estimate of construction/rehab requirements.
  • Identify and approach potential partners in local government (civic leaders and housing authorities), corporations, major houses of worship, and explore possible roles of each by FYE 2005.
  • Identify potential well-known "name" to lead the initiative by December 2005.
  • Determine the specific role that AHFH can contribute to the task by December 2005.
• Develop a proposal for accepting and implementing the "21st Century Challenge" in Anne Arundel County and present it for Board action at Annual Retreat in 2006.
• As a follow-up, should the AHFH Board decide not to accept the "Challenge" at that time, select a date for reevaluation and/or propose an alternative initiative i.e., implement just in Annapolis.

Strategic Goal 3 - Develop, fund and implement programs that will improve our ability to identify and reach families living in substandard housing; expand our pool of approved applicants and enhance homeowner maintenance skills and fiscal responsibility skills.

In discussing the AHFH strengths, weaknesses and threats it was clear that more support of Habitat families is necessary throughout the entire Habitat process. We need to expand our effort to reach out to low-income families in our county. The education and development of Habitat families will start when identifying potential family partners and continue through the early stages of home ownership.

Specific Goals
Specific goals related to the identification of potential applicants and development of Habitat families include:

• Hire a full-time Family Services Support Manager to direct our family support activities and support the work of the Family Selection and Family Support Committees, by FYE 2004.
• Identify and foster relationships with key leaders of large low-income populations within the county; i.e. Bacontown, Pioneer City, Hispanic community, etc and encourage their participation in AHFH leadership, by FYE 2005.
• Develop/Acquire Spanish speaking skills within the Family Support group and office staff by FYE 2005.
• Determine the educational programs most appropriate for AHFH homeowners, by FYE 2004.
  • Recommended programs include home maintenance, budgeting, maintaining good credit, effective homeowners associations, conflict resolution, etc.
• Develop and implement Habitat homeowner education programs, and require new Habitat families to attend these programs as part of their "sweat equity" as a demonstration of their "willingness to partner", beginning FYE 2005.

Future Planning
This planning process has been extremely beneficial for AHFH. Through it, AHFH has developed a focus and direction for the upcoming years based on the organizations present status. Conditions are subject to change and needs may vary over the next years. This plan must be a living document. It should be updated periodically so the organization can continually build on its strengths, correct its weaknesses, and be aware of potential threats to our success.

ATTACHMENTS (links to PDF files each less than 1MB)

1. Basic Characteristics of Habitat Affiliate Growth Stages
2. Transition Steps from "Block Builder" to "Neighborhood Builder"
3. Transition Steps from "Neighborhood Builder" to "Community Builder"
4. What is the 21st Century Challenge?

Original Strategic Planning Team Members:
Melanie Smith, Chair
Bryan Swanson, outside Facilitator
Roland Banscher
Jim Elder
Linda Gray
Jim Gourley
Dean Johnson
John Lloyd
Ben Schaub
Bill Schummer