This year’s Legacy & Leadership Reception welcomed Habitat SKKC volunteers, homeowners, and community members to celebrate a year of making big strides for affordable housing and homeownership and to look excitedly ahead to next month’s Beyond the Build Luncheon.
Emcee Jen Mueller, local sports broadcaster, opened the night’s program by discussing the importance of homeownership and how Habitat for Humanity is a critical pathway to it. She thanked our donors and reminded them, “Your passion is what makes Habitat’s work possible.”
CEO Brett D’Antonio’s speech reflected on the name of the event and how it takes powerful leadership to build upon our legacy: “To continue to expand our impact and serve even more individuals and families, it takes the dedication of the leaders right here in this room to encourage those outside of it to envision a world where everyone has a safe, decent, and affordable place to call home.”
Before honoring the night’s Affordable Homeownership Champions, Chief Advocacy Officer Ryan Donohue paused the festivities to pay tribute to two champions of our work who recently passed: Speaker Emeritus Frank Chopp and Senator Bill Ramos. Calling them “an absolute lion for affordable housing and housing advocacy” and “a true friend of affordable housing,” respectively, Donohue detailed their dedication to affordable housing for all.
Donohue reflected on how Frank Chopp taught him to “always remember to bring the humanity into the work we do.”
The five elected officials we honored as Affordable Homeownership Champions all demonstrated the importance of pursuing this work with humanity top of mind. The five recipients were Senator Rebecca Saldaña, Representative Mike Steele, Representative Jamila Taylor, Senator Lisa Wellman, and Representative Janice Zahn.
In a pre-recorded acceptance speech, Representative Mike Steele said, “Homeownership shouldn’t be out of reach for any of the hardworking people in this state. Everybody should be able to plant roots, raise a family, and build a future.”
When she accepted her award, Representative Janice Zahn added, “I look forward to continuing to be a champion because we know that housing is a human right.”
This was the third time we honored affordable homeownership champions: Iin 2022, we honored state lawmakers, and, in 2023, we focused on city and county representatives.
After the presentation of awards, the audience was treated to a talk by Habitat homeowner Lori S., who spoke of the resilience it took to buy a home as a single parent working for a nonprofit: “I wasn’t able to secure my own home while serving others.”
Lori overcame obstacles and exercised great patience as she waited for a Habitat home to come available in the Renton area code where she grew up and where much of her community is based. Once she applied to Habitat, completed the program, and became a homeowner, she was able to raise her son in Renton and send him to the same schools she attended. Habitat made it possible for her to find stability and permanence and to provide the same for her son.
Guest speaker Beth Knox, President and CEO of the Seattle Sports Commission, utilizes sports to instill civic pride in the Puget Sound Region. She updated attendees on the exciting developments in Seattle sports, including hosting the 2026 FIFA World Cup. She noted that Seattle is the leader in women’s sports—with soccer and basketball teams and soon a professional hockey team, we’ll have the most women’s sports teams in the country. It was a perfect lead up to Storm legend Sue Bird’s upcoming appearance as the keynote speaker at Beyond the Build.
During her talk, homeowner Lori S. told listeners, “I’m only one story. There are thousands of people who have been impacted by Habitat.”
Lori and her son are important reminders of why we do the work we do. If you want to continue to be inspired by Habitat’s work and the homeowners we serve, consider attending the Beyond the Build Luncheon on June 5.