Habitat for Humanity Seattle-King County recently received a substantial grant of $300,000 from the M.J. Murdock Charitable Trust of Vancouver, Washington, dedicated to the recruitment, hiring and training of Nolan Corlett, our new Director of Construction. Nolan oversees all onsite construction and repair activities with a focus on production and heavy volunteer involvement. His previous experience includes construction roles with AmeriCorps, and with several high-production Habitat affiliates including Mississippi Gulf Coast, New Orleans, and Kauai.
We currently have 157 homes in various phases of planning and construction, with an ambitious goal to get to 1,000 homes built and sold to low-income homebuyers over the next five years.
The M.J. Murdock Charitable Trust, created by the will of the late Melvin J. (Jack) Murdock, provides grants to nonprofit organizations in five states of the Pacific Northwest—Alaska, Idaho, Montana, Oregon, and Washington—that seek to strengthen the region’s educational, social, spiritual, and cultural base in creative and sustainable ways.
“We couldn’t be more thrilled to receive this grant that will help us manage the increasing amount of permanently affordable homes in our portfolio. In Washington State, one in seven families is paying more than half their income toward housing, meaning that many hard-working families can’t afford to buy their own home. Habitat is the only option for lower-income first-time home buyers, and we’re committed to addressing this need.”
Brett D’Antonio, Habitat SKC’s CEO
More About M.J. Murdock Charitable Trust
M.J. Murdock Charitable Trust was created by the will of the late Melvin J. (Jack) Murdock, who was a co-founder of Tektronix, Inc. in Beaverton, Oregon, and a resident of Vancouver, Washington. Since its establishment on June 30, 1975, with a bequest of about $90 million, the Trust has focused its grantmaking efforts primarily in five states of the Pacific Northwest: Alaska, Idaho, Montana, Oregon, and Washington. The Trust’s current assets are valued at about $1 billion, and over the life of the Trust, more than $900 million has been distributed through more than 6,000 grants.
The Trust’s mission is to enrich the quality of life in the Pacific Northwest by providing grants to organizations that seek to strengthen the region’s educational, social, cultural, and spiritual base in creative and sustainable ways. Grants are awarded to a wide variety of organizations, including those that serve the arts, public affairs, education, scientific research, health and medicine, human services, and people with disabilities.