Habitat for Humanity of Chester County and Lowe’s partnered to raise awareness of the global need for safe and affordable housing for women during International Women Build Week (March 8-15).

On March 8, International Women’s Day, Habitat and Lowe’s kicked off more than 300 Women Build projects supporting women-led households across the U.S., Canada, and India to drive awareness and address the need.

Women have been disproportionately impacted by the COVID-19 pandemic, from job loss to evictions and foreclosures. According to The National Women’s Law Center, 80 percent of U.S. jobs lost during the COVID-19 pandemic were held by women. The United Nations has reported that 40 percent of all employed women globally work in the industries hardest hit by the pandemic.

Despite the unprecedented challenges women are facing, women remain on the frontlines of the pandemic as essential workers, as caretakers within their households, and too often have to make the difficult decision between maintaining a place to call home and paying for food, healthcare, childcare, education, or reliable transportation.

Harvard University’s State of the Nation’s Housing 2020 report revealed that 37.1 million U.S. households spent more than 30 percent of their incomes on housing in 2019, including 17.6 million spending more than 50 percent. The effects of the pandemic have further highlighted the need for safe and affordable housing, as 29 percent of renters and 36 percent of homeowners experienced employment income loss between March and September of 2020.

Every day, millions of women face the challenge of a future without adequate, stable housing. This issue underscores the importance of Habitat’s and Lowe’s efforts to bring awareness to the issue, as well as a partnership focused on ensuring that more women have access to affordable housing.

Lowe’s and Habitat’s partnership began in 2003. To date, the program has brought together more than 143,000 women volunteers who have built or repaired nearly 6,000 houses. Lowe’s has committed more than $78 million to support the global housing nonprofit’s efforts, including the Women Build program, and International Women Build Week. Lowe’s support of Habitat has helped more than 18,000 Habitat partner families improve their living conditions.

On International Women’s Day, HfHCC had the honor of hosting more than 20 women homeowners, volunteers, supporters, and staff for a virtual paint night. Each attendee painted a piece of art that what will come together to form one neighborhood. Traditionally, the organization would host a women-led build day on the construction site, but as COVID-19 continues to restrict group sizes, this year’s event was hosted online.  

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