HBA Foundation

A Gift That Builds Futures 🔨❤️

The Home Builders Association Foundation recently had the opportunity to support Habitat for Humanity of Kent County with a meaningful gift—and we couldn’t be more honored. 🙌

Since 1998 (that’s 27 years!), the HBA Foundation has stood alongside Habitat Kent, helping make affordable housing a reality. This recent gift supports their ambitious IMAGINED campaign, which is building 100 homes in just 3 years. It's a game-changer—not just for construction, but for how we think about building to meet the real needs of our community. 🏡

So far, $6.5 million has been raised towards an $8 million goal, and every dollar is helping transform lives—from reducing housing costs for homeowners to inspiring the next generation of housing professionals.

These funds also fuel creative programs like:
💡 A leadership initiative for community members
🌷 A curb appeal contest (complete with gift cards!) that empowers pride in homeownership

We're beyond grateful for the amazing work being done by Habitat for Humanity of Kent County and are proud to be a small part of such big change.

Want to learn more or get involved? Stay tuned—there’s so much more to come. 👷‍♀️💙

Despite snow and cold, 🥶 the board met at Heartland Builders in-person and virtually yesterday. We accomplished quite a lot! ✅
Here is a rundown:
• Orientation review & introduction for 4 new members
• Thank you to Cindy Kogelschatz, Ryan Knibbe, Heather Cronkright-Oliver
• Congratulations to Kerry Siereveld, Kurt Lang, Mark VandenBosch, Bryant Ellam
• Clay Shoot - Getting ready to kick off planning with great ideas for 2025
• Website and Grant Application form getting some new updates
• Set Grant Budget to $66,000
• Grant awarded to Bethany YouthBuild
• Grant awarded to Habitat for Humanity local project
• Grant awarded to Professional Women in Building
• Congratulations to Zhahari Horton who received our grant through GRCC
• Discussed committee potentials, organization, and collaboration with the HBA for a stronger partnership
• Updated website coming out soon!

Thanks for all of your support. We're excited for 2025!

Recently the HBAF was able to grant funding to support a PWB Girl Scouts event where young ladies were given the opportunity to build some benches and learn about careers in construction!

The HBAF board met on Nov 20th at the Oliver Vandyke Insurance Agency (OVD). We would like to express our sincere gratitude to OVD for their continued support of HBAF, and we are especially thankful to have Syd Getz serving on the board as a representative from OVD.

During the meeting, we were excited to announce that we issued another grant to the Grand Rapids Community College (GRCC) endowed scholarship, supporting future students in the building industry.

We also had the pleasure of approving four new board members. Please join us in welcoming:

• Sarah Medina from Heartland Builders
• Erin Hoehn from Engelsma Homes
• Keith Huizinga from Lumbermans
• Bryant Ellam from LMCU

The HBAF Clay Shoot event was a great success, with 24 teams participating and over $60,000 raised. A huge thank you to our long-time sponsors, the Clay Shoot committee, and all the volunteers who helped make this event possible. For those interested, check out the 2024 Clay Shoot Photos.

In addition, HBAF recently granted funding for a PWB Girl Scouts event, where young ladies had the opportunity to build benches and learn about careers in construction. [Photos]

The Community Service Committee provided an update on the 21 ramp builds completed so far. They are actively seeking new committee members—if you’re interested, please reach out!

Thank you to everyone for your continued support and dedication to the foundation's efforts. We look forward to furthering our mission together in the coming months!