Celebrating 150: The Past 33 Years

Celebrating 150
Written By Tiffany Metty

Partnership housing: Habitat’s founding values.

Racial Justice. In the tradition of the radical inclusivity that infused our earliest days, we commit to being actively anti-racist and to affirming, through word and action, that Black lives matter and that our communities and systems must further this fundamental truth.

Complete equality. Our founders believed that “what the poor need is not charity, but capital, not caseworkers, but co-workers.” We will infuse our work with courage, accountability, and equity.

Shared generosity. We commit to the principle of solidarity, which emphasizes partnerships that are of mutual aid and respect.

This post is an installment in our Celebrating 150 series! Find more here.

In 2018, we celebrated 30 years in the Capital District with Homecoming. We used this milestone anniversary to reconnect with our roots at Koinonia Farm, the radically anti-racist communal farm in Georgia that set the founding values for Habitat for Humanity: racial justice, shared generosity, and complete equality. See our link list below to learn more.

At that time, we were also celebrating our 130th house. In the three years since, partnerships with the community, our neighbors, and our sponsors have helped 20 more families build and purchase a Habitat home in Albany and Rensselaer counties.

How we got here

Journey to 150.

1990: First home built.

2006: 50th home built.

2015: 100th home built.

2021 (We are here!): 150th house built.

200th house to be built when??

We’ve come a long way from the days when Habitat was volunteer-run and relied on small donations to build. As investments from government agencies and businesses grow, our capacity to partner with local families also grows.

  • First 50 houses took us 18 years (2006)

  • Second 50 houses took us 9 years (2015)

  • Last 50 houses took us 6 years (2021)

  • Next 50 houses - ????

Where we’ve built

Where we’ve built.

Albany County: 1 home in Cohoes. 18 homes in North Albany. Two homes in Guilderland. Six homes in Arbor Hill. 42 homes in Sheridan Hollow. 6 homes in Delaware Ave/Park South. 38 homes in South End.

Rensselaer County: 12 homes in North Central. Four homes in The Hill. 4 homes in South Central/Eastside. 15 homes in South Troy. 2 homes in Castleton.


We focus our construction efforts in neighborhoods to amplify the impact of our work and investments. Fun fact: Our 100th and 150th homes built + sold are both located in Sheridan Hollow. Take a tour of our work in Google Earth - link below!

Link list for further reading

Tiffany Metty
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Celebrating 150: How we build
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