John Habat doesn’t have to wonder what it feels like to experience housing instability.
Habat, president and CEO of Greater Cleveland Habitat for Humanity, grew up in a family of 11 children that moved a dozen or so times before he left for a small Christian high school in Mt. Vernon and then college in Maryland, becoming the first in his family to earn a high school diploma and an advanced degree.
“I just knew from my own family experience the damage this could inflict on a family — not just for one generation but a legacy of harm for multiple generations,” he says.
When Habat took the helm in 2011, the organization had built only one house in the preceding year. That number is now up to as many as two dozen homes a year, which would not be possible without the help of more than 3,000 volunteers.
Currently, Habitat for Humanity is working primarily in two neighborhoods: building single-family homes in the Buckeye Woodhill area and rehabbing townhouses for smaller families in Euclid.
A common misconception, says Habat, is that families are given homes free and clear. The reality is that the organization works with families to arrange a zero-interest mortgage with monthly payments tailored to their ability to pay. “Overall, we’ve had a 95% success rate,” he adds.
Habat launched his career with a fellowship with the Ohio Legislature where he advanced efforts to pass House Bill 378, which, for the first time, allowed the state to provide subsidies to families who adopt children with special needs. He still considers this early achievement his “ticket into heaven.”
Next, he served as the policy director for George Voinovich, who ran successfully against Dennis Kucinich to become mayor of Cleveland in 1979.
Politics was followed by a long stint (1985-2000) as the vice president of the Greater Cleveland Growth Association and then eight years as a higher education executive.
Then he got the itch to get into grassroots, nonprofit work.
While Habat’s early struggles no longer haunt him, they will never leave him. “It’s why I’m so empathetic with the families I serve,” he says. “Because I walked those streets.”
And there are always too many people in those same shoes. “I know we could do 250 houses a year and still have a long waiting list,” he says. “The job has just begun.”