Greater Springfield Habitat for Humanity Receives $39,000 from KeyBank Foundation

WEST SPRINGFIELD — Greater Springfield Habitat for Humanity (GSHFH) received a $39,000 charitable grant from KeyBank Foundation, the charitable foundation of KeyBank, during the bank’s Volunteer Build Day held on Chestnut Street in Holyoke.

The donation will assist Habitat’s environmental-stewardship program, which strives to build homes utilizing a variety of environmentally friendly building practices to have a positive impact on the environment while providing homeowners with energy-efficient homes.

“We appreciate KeyBank’s donation to our environmental stewardship campaign, which will allow us to incorporate more green-building and energy-efficient products into our home designs and helping us to provide our partner families with more environmentally friendly homes and lower utility costs,” said Aimee Giroux, executive director of GSHFH.

Greater Springfield Habitat for Humanity builds safe, decent, and affordable homes that allow families to build stronger foundations that create a more stable future for themselves and their families. Through construction utilizing community volunteers, the organization provides low-income families with the opportunity of affordable homeownership or needed repairs on a home they already own.

Habitat for Humanity also educates families about financial-asset building, the value of good credit, and budgeting by requiring families to complete first-time-homebuyer and financial-literacy education. They then work with the family, community volunteers, and workforce-development partners to construct and/or repair the homes incorporating green-building practices that provide energy cost savings for homeowners.

“At KeyBank, supporting affordable housing solutions is core to our community investment strategy and how we help our communities thrive,” said Ramon (Tito) Albizu, branch manager of KeyBank’s Holyoke branch. “We are pleased to support Habitat for Humanity’s mission philanthropically, and as members of the Holyoke community, we are particularly proud to volunteer our time to help make the dream of homeownership a reality for a Holyoke family.”

KeyBank has seven branches serving Greater Springfield. This foundation grant is part of its philanthropic support aimed at creating safe, healthy, affordable, and inclusive communities throughout its service area.