Billionaire philanthropist MacKenzie Scott donates $436-million to nonprofit housing organization Habitat for Humanity. The gift is the largest publicly disclosed donation from Scott and her husband Dan Jewitt, who pledged in 2019 to give away the majority of their estimated $48-billion wealth.
Habitat for Humanity International will receive $25-million, while the remaining $411-million will be distributed to 84 Habitat affiliates across the country. Habitat for Humanity International CEO Jonathan Reckford says the organization will use the money to increase the supply of affordable housing, but specific decisions on how the funds should be best used will happen at the local level.
Reckford says the donation couldn’t have come at a better time, with home prices on the rise and availability of affordable housing at critically low levels. “Even before COVID, we already had one in seven families paying over half their income on rent or mortgage,” explains Reckford. “This incredibly generous gift will allow us to dramatically increase capacity.”
Source: ABC News