On February 8, 2024, Orange County families, businesses, and philanthropists gathered at Singleton Classics in Costa Mesa for Habitat for Humanity of Orange County‘s annual Building Dreams Drive Breakfast fundraising event. Surrounded by Singleton’s impressive classic car collection, the event promised to be an inspiring morning to celebrate and fuel the dreams of affordable homeownership for hardworking families in Orange County. In the end, it delivered that and more, raising a total of $404,000 to support Habitat’s mission.

Habitat for Humanity of Orange County’s Impact

Habitat’s new President & CEO, Michael Valentine, took the stage and shared a striking figure: in 35 years, Habitat has built homes for 239 families in Orange County, with an impressive 0 defaults. However, in order to meet the urgent and ever growing need for affordable homes in Orange County, Valentine shared Habitat’s ambitious plan to break ground on an additional 100 homes in the next 2 years.

While the goal is, indeed, ambitious, Valentine noted that it’s not only necessary but possible. Current projects are already underway to develop new Habitat homes across Santa Ana, Buena Park, and on church property. He also shared that Habitat is looking into additional innovative approaches to creating affordable homes, including the possibility of investing in existing multi-plexes that are currently on the market.

The Legacy of Habitat Homeownership

Valentine emphasized the importance of homeownership for families because of how homeownership creates legacy. This is true in some more obvious ways, like through the creation of stability and generational wealth. But he shared some of the less obvious ways Habitat homeownership creates legacy, too.

“I’ll never forget meeting a child who ran into his home and said, ‘My dad built this place!'” Valentine said. He also noted how among the populations that Habitat serves, 25% of kids typically go into higher education. That number for those with Habitat homes, however, is 80%.

Later in the morning, the audience also had the opportunity to meet the Martinez family, just one of the Habitat families in attendance. The Martinez family members readily shared their testimonials for how Habitat homeownership changed their lives. When the event’s host asked the biggest change since owning a home, two of the Martinez children shared how wonderful it was to have privacy—to be able to close their bedroom door and be alone if they wanted to, whether to do their homework, go to bed, or just decompress without the distraction of lights or noise created by other family members.

The third of the children shared how it gave him stability. “I never bothered to remember my address because we were always moving,” he said. “Now I do because I have a home.”

Honoring “Dream Builders“

The morning was also used as an opportunity to thank and honor those who have made Habitat’s mission possible. This included a special recognition of two local OC leaders who have gone above and beyond to support Habitat—Charles Antis of Antis Roofing and John Boyle of the Automobile Club of Southern California—who were given “Dream Builder” awards.

Charles Antis of Antis Roofing

Charles Antis, a Board Member for 15 years, is well known throughout the OC philanthropy circles for high energy and genuine passion for corporate social responsibility. Antis shared how his belief that every family should have a home that is safe and dry particularly aligns with Habitat, noting, “We can’t let a family have a leaky roof just because the family can’t afford to pay.”

His company, Antis Roofing, has donated the roof on every one of the last 93 Habitat homes. While Antis has no doubt made a pivotal impact himself, he made a point to also give credit to Eagle Roofing Products, Beacon Building Products and GAF, three other generous local businesses that Antis has partnered with to make everything possible. While Antis Roofing has done all of the installation, his partners donated every tile, delivered all the material, and donated shingles, respectively. Together, they have supported Habitat through $2 million in in-kind donations.

John Boyle of Automobile Club of Southern California

John Boyle, CEO of the Automobile Club of Southern California for the last 7 years, knew he wanted to get involved with Habitat OC after seeing an ad in the Orange County Business Journal in which Habitat was thanking corporate donors. “The Auto Club should be on that page,” he recalled thinking. He immediately reached out to get involved, and since that time, the company has donated over a quarter of a million dollars to Habitat OC and participated in dozens of Team Builds.

In 2017, Boyle found another way to support Habitat. It occured to hime that in addition to homes, families also need reliable transportation. He began partnering with collision repair shops to donate refurbished cars to new homeowners along with a year of free car insurance. To date, 12 cars have been donated to Habitat families.

The Building Dreams Drive Breakfast made it clear that the work of Habitat for Humanity of Orange County is more than just building houses; it’s about fostering community, instilling pride, and driving change. It’s a reminder that each of us has the power to make a difference, to build dreams, and to help lay the foundation for a brighter future.

To learn more about Habitat for Humanity of Orange County, visit www.habitatoc.org.