• Celebrated 20 years of the ReStore in Des Moines
• Hosted an eight-home Blitz Build in Ankeny
• Closed on a new home in Newton
• Funded six Launch Grants to help nonprofits, small businesses, and residents of targeted neighborhoods
• Held quarterly homeownership celebrations, bringing together dozens of volunteers, staff, and supporters to lift up new Habitat homeowners
• Created the Women Build Luncheon, an opportunity to celebrate the Women Build and explore ideas surrounding homeownership
• Closed the purchase of our first three homes through Habitat Direct, a new program to support purchase of homes on the open market
• Moved into our new headquarters at 95 University Avenue
• Launched the Framing Our Future capital campaign and raised more than $8 million to fund key priorities for Habitat’s future

For Celeste, it all started at the Des Moines Arts Festival. She noticed the Habitat build on site and thought “I would love to do this, but I don’t think it’s for single people; I think it’s for families.” She investigated buying a house on the open market, but it seemed impossible, especially for a single person. A conversation with her friend Denny led to a realization: Celeste needed to give herself permission to dream.

“I was asking folks around town and someone recommended Habitat’s homeownership class,” Celeste said. “When I talked with [a Habitat housing counselor], she said that I might qualify.”

Habitat for Humanity serves families of all types and sizes, from single people to multigenerational households and everything in between. After applying, Celeste became one of those homebuyers. She had two sweatshirts made – one for her and one for Denny – emblazoned with text: permission to dream. Celeste wore that sweatshirt every day that she worked toward her future home on site or in homeowner education classes.

“Homeownership unlocks security for the future, and I’ve really tried to educate myself a lot more about money and have been taught a lot more about money through the financial literacy program,” she said. “It gets me out of thinking about today. You start to build your future and invest in yourself.”

Celeste purchased her home – one of the eight built during the 2023 Ankeny Blitz Build and made possible in part due to the MacKenzie Scott Foundation – in December with an affordable mortgage from Habitat. She’s joined at home by Luna Mae, her 10-year-old special needs rescue, and Rocky, a special needs cat she adopted after he escaped a house fire. This family of three is facing the future with new confidence.

“It’s been very empowering,” Celeste said. “My working-class income has always felt like a barrier to becoming a homeowner. However, I’ve learned so much about money and finances and now know that anything is possible if you have a plan.”

Since September, when homeowners visit our new office they pause in the lobby to take it all in. “Wow, this is so nice!” is a response that isn’t unusual for a first visit. The new waiting area is bright, colorful, and filled with pictures of successful homeowners to greet anyone who walks in thinking that homeownership isn’t possible.

Our new space was designed with homebuyers and homeowners in mind with a flexible conference room that fits a homeownership class of 15 or a group of 50. In addition, four dedicated meeting rooms ensure that we have space for scheduled appointments and walk-ins at any time and each is equipped with a screen for effective counseling and education sessions. In the staff area, we have plenty of room to stretch our legs with standing desks and each individual’s work space is a reflection of their personality.

I’m proud that our new office is designed around hospitality. When our visitors stop in my favorite thing to do is offer them a cold bottle of water, because good hospitality is the right way to start any conversation. 

— Dan Warfel, Director of Family Services

For Robert and his son Mario, who uses a wheelchair, getting into and out of the house was getting more and more difficult. The short, temporary ramp that Robert had installed was too steep, but money for a more accessible ramp just wasn’t available. Luckily, GDM Habitat’s Home Preservation program was able to help.

Last spring, volunteers and Habitat staff built a brand new, more accessible ramp, and Robert happily reports that he and Mario have regained their sense of independence.

This year was a special milestone for the ReStore – our 20th anniversary! Over the past two decades, the ReStore has grown from a small shop to a major source of sustainable funding for Habitat’s mission. Now at two locations (with one getting ready to expand — be sure to visit the E. Euclid ReStore this spring!) with dozens of team members and thousands of volunteers, we’re proud of how the ReStore has grown. We’re also proud to be in the top 5 ReStores in America almost every year.

Retail is never an easy gig, but we work hard to make it count. We returned more than $2.2 million to help build homes, communities, and hope in 2023, our biggest year ever. Here’s to the next 20 years of hard work and major impact!

— Dana Folkerts, Vice President of ReStore Operations