Updated as of: Thursday, March 26, 2020

This is an increasingly difficult time for people, businesses, and organizations all across the country and our community. As a nonprofit that relies on the support of others, please know we are making these difficult decisions prayerfully—but we need your help.

In a time when very little is certain, you can help build stability and certainty for your neighbors with a gift to Habitat. 

As part of the Habitat family, you understand the power of community action. Thank you for your continued support during this time. When we emerge from this crisis, let us emerge stronger, together.

Here are the protective measures we have enacted at this time:

Habitat Offices

• Our Habitat main office and construction warehouse are now closed to the public for the foreseeable future.
• Our staff will be available and actively working remotely, replying to phone calls, voicemails, and emails during this time.

Here’s how you can help: We urgently need your financial support. As businesses throughout our community are impacted by closures, so are many Habitat homeowners who make their family’s living in the service industry. These families will certainly be concerned about continuing to make their mortgage payments. We are committed to working with each family during this uncertain time, but we need your financial support to sustain us in that. Please consider any financial support possible and click here to give a gift online or see other ways to give. When you give, you’ll help us do more to help them.

Our Habitat ReStores 

• The Greater Indy ReStores – in Downtown Indy, Fishers, Avon, Greenfield – are now closed to the public until end of business April 6.
• Until April 7, we are pausing donation drop-offs and are working to reschedule donation pickups that are currently scheduled. Please know, we rely on your donated items, so please keep reading to see how you can help.
• We will continue to evaluate our April 7 reopening date in the hopes that we can reopen sooner, but also extending if necessary. We will respond to the any further direction by the Governor’s office.

Here’s how you can help: ReStore is a key part of how we build homes with local families and this downtime will certainly be a hit to that effort. We will urgently need your donated items when we return. If you’re planning a donation drop-off, please hang on to your items and drop them off when we open again on April 7. You can continue to request free donation pickups on our website or by calling our donation lines (listed below), but please remember that we aren’t able to resume pickups until we reopen. Click here to learn more about donating items and schedule your free donation pickup.

Habitat Volunteers 

• We are canceling all volunteer work on the build site, in the warehouse, ReStore and office through May 31.
• We are contacting all currently scheduled volunteers to reschedule or cancel their assignments.

Here’s how you can help: Take steps to stay healthy—we have a busy build season ahead of us and we’ll need your help to build homes!

Habitat Homebuyers and Homeowners 

• We have cancelled upcoming homebuyer education classes through April 7 and will communicate those cancellations directly with affected families and facilitators.
• Our Habitat Homeownership Information Sessions are cancelled through April 7.
• You may continue to make your mortgage payments online here.

Here’s how you can help us: Stay in touch with our Homeownership team if you have questions or concerns during this time. Call 317.777.6080 and they will be available to assist you.

Join Together in Prayer 

• This disease most vigorously affects the most vulnerable in our communities, so please join us in praying for those who are already ill and those who may become ill. Pray for our government leaders and medical professionals. Pray for protection over our entire community and all those who come into contact with this Habitat ministry.

We will continue to monitor, respond and enact recommendations from the CDC. If you would like to receive updates in your inbox, please sign up for future updates here.

As part of the Habitat family, you understand the power of community action. Thank you for your continued support during this time and for playing your part in promoting the well-being of our entire community.

Thanks for all you bring to this work of building homes, communities and hope.

Jim Morris, President & CEO
Greater Indy Habitat for Humanity

Updated as of: Friday, March 13, 2020

In light of current public health-related concerns surrounding the COVID-19 (coronavirus disease), we at Greater Indy Habitat for Humanity are sharing our response, effective immediately. While these decisions will impact our work in the near term, our policy reflects our commitment to love our neighbors and enact practices that hold your health, the health of our team, the health of Habitat homebuyers and the larger community as a top priority.

We reviewed recommendations from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) and are adhering to Governor Holcomb’s recommended steps. This disease most vigorously affects the most vulnerable in our communities. If the spread of the disease can be slowed down, then it “flattens the curve” and prevents sick people from overwhelming the healthcare system. That means those who need help can get it. Put another way, the more we socially isolate, the fewer people who will die.

Here’s our plan, effective immediately:

• All volunteer construction days through Sunday, April 5 are cancelled.

• All Tiger Team volunteerism in the construction warehouse, including individual work and Tiger Tuesdays and Thursdays through Sunday, April 5 are cancelled.

• Habitat homebuyer education classes through Sunday, April 5 are cancelled. Our Homeownership team will communicate those cancellations directly with affected families and facilitators and will determine if and when they will be rescheduled.

• The Habitat Homeownership Information Sessions will be cancelled through Sunday, April 5.

• The Habitat offices and ReStores will remain open at this time. If you have an appointment or plans to visit us, please exercise an abundance of caution. If you are even slightly ill or are worried about being in contact with someone who is, please reschedule your appointment or visit for another time in the future.

• We will continue to monitor, respond and enact recommendations from the CDC such as encouraging “social distancing,” limiting the size of gathered groups, etc.

Please join us in praying for those who are already ill and those who may become ill. Pray for our government leaders and medical professionals. Pray for protection over our entire community and all those who come into contact with this Habitat ministry.

While the heartbeat of our mission is “bringing people together,” we realize that this is a time for pause. Our 2020 plans are to complete 29 homes for families to purchase, preserve up to 18 homes through critical repairs and support up to 23 homes internationally with our Habitat partner affiliate in El Salvador. We will need all of you when this pandemic passes to help us fulfill these goals. Thank you for your ongoing commitment to building strength, stability and independence through affordable homeownership. If you have any questions concerning our COVID-19 plan, please email us or call us.

Jim Morris, President & CEO
Greater Indy Habitat for Humanity