HOUSTON HABITAT FOR HUMANITY

"They’ve made us better"

Since 1987, over 7,000 individuals have been served by Houston Habitat for Humanity through new home ownership and home repair services. The Houston affiliate of U.S. Habitat International brings together businesses and groups to build or improve places that people call home. Through shelter, the nonprofit empowers people to build a better future for themselves and their families by completing financial and home maintenance training, building homes alongside volunteers, and purchasing their homes with an affordable mortgage. With this hand up, they achieve strength, stability, and self-reliance. Habitat’s vision is quite elegant and simple: a world where everyone has a decent place to live.

Executive Director Allison Hay remembers when her CFO was doing due diligence to see if Houston Habitat’s accounting and technology systems could be improved. YPTC was brought in to do an assessment of the organization’s financials. “They were in the process of assessing our work and how we could get better when our CFO left for a higher-paying job in the for-profit sector,” she recalls. “We wished her the best of luck and fortunately YPTC was right there to fill in with a seamless transition.”

Working with YPTC’s Aimee Pourciau and Barbara Enright, they developed a game plan and have been collaborating ever since. “We’re mission-driven and my passion is getting more families into homes, not finances. But their passion is. They see what we need and they’ve made us better.” Changing to different software was a huge accomplishment for the organization. “We’d been plugging along using older technology and they realized we could be doing better.”

Hay is impressed with how YPTC continues to advocate for Houston Habitat. “With YPTC, it’s never ‘your’ organization, it’s what ‘we’ need. That makes a difference when you’re a mission-driven nonprofit. YPTC isn’t an outside consultant as much as they are a team member.

“I remember asking myself, ‘Why would I ever want to bring YPTC in?’ But now my advice to nonprofits is that when you need them you really need them, and you need a nonprofit accountant. They like our work, we like their work, and it’s been fun.

30-YEAR CONGRATULATIONS: “The real successful ones are still here to celebrate.”

“There must have been something in the water 30-40 years ago with people who wanted to make a difference in the world. The real successful ones are still here to celebrate. Congratulations!”

— Allison Hay, Executive Director

Houston Habitat for Humanity

Houston, Texas