MultiCare volunteers with Habitat for Humanity

MultiCare employees traded in their stethoscopes and medical charts for construction tools and building plans during a volunteer day with Tacoma/Pierce County Habitat for Humanity earlier this month.

While not their usual way of providing care, the teams recognize that having access to a safe, warm home can help people live a healthier life, says Tracey Carpenter, RN, with the operating room at MultiCare Good Samaritan Hospital.

“We believe that by helping to make housing affordable for families, it allows them an opportunity to a safe living space for their families and a place to make a fresh start and lasting memories,” Carpenter says. “If you have a place to live and can get medical care and eat better, all that goes into improving health.”

In the spirit of partnering to build those healthier futures, MultiCare employees signed up to fill volunteer needs at two separate Habitat for Humanity sites.

Members of the vascular and cardiothoracic surgery team at MultiCare’s Pulse Heart Institute spent their day laying floors and framing walls for two new homes in Lakewood.

At the same time, a handful of operating room staff from Good Samaritan assisted with landscaping and updating exterior finishes at three homes being renovated in Spanaway. These homes are part of a multiyear project converting former rental properties into affordable homes for purchase.

“Habitat for Humanity is all about opportunities for affordable home ownership,” explains Tracey Sorenson, director of community engagement with Tacoma/Pierce County Habitat for Humanity. “Most people know about us in terms of building new affordable homes, but there’s so much more to it.”

This new venture into home renovations will allow Habitat for Humanity to keep houses that are already in the community as permanently affordable, she adds.

In addition to building and renovating homes, Habitat for Humanity operates two programs centered on affordable homeownership — Aging in Place helps older adults and those with physical disabilities update their home to meet their needs, and Housing Counseling prepares potential homebuyers with the financial knowledge they need to be successful.

“The need for affordable housing is huge. More than 50 percent of renters are spending more than 30 percent of their income on rent, and there’s also a large portion spending more than 50 percent. That’s a huge cost burden,” Sorenson says. “Programs like ours help put people in a permanent, stable home and create stability going forward for their families.”

During their time on-site, staff learned more about what Habitat for Humanity does for the community, says Andrea Graham, vascular and cardiothoracic surgery clinic manager. She was surprised to learn it’s much more than simply building homes.

“I knew the organization existed, but I didn’t really know the depths of it. It was interesting to see what they do as an organization to give back to the community and help with their future financially,” she says. “We so often have blinders on in our day-to-day life, so to be part of something so big, even if we were just a small part, was great.”

Even for the team doing renovation work, Carpenter says it’s inspiring to see how Habitat for Humanity transforms housing to help make it affordable so families have a place to call home and can gain security and stability.

“Whether you’re tearing down, painting or planting gardens, there’s still the happiness of what that will give somebody in the long run,” she adds.

Affordable home ownership is at the far end of the spectrum when it comes to the need for housing in our community, explains Habitat director Sorenson. But it’s also a key way to ensure there’s more availability for those in the middle of the spectrum.

She thinks of the family of 12 that Habitat for Humanity helped purchase a home for decades ago: The father was a school janitor and the mother was a nursing assistant. They had limited growth potential with their jobs and a huge family to provide for. They wanted put money aside for their kids’ college, and moving into a home with a stable mortgage allowed them to do that. All 10 children went to college, and six now own their own homes.

Just that one change can become a stabilizing force for generations, Sorenson adds.

“Partnering for healing and a healthy future” is MultiCare’s mission, and it inspires us to form connections that help improve the quality of life for our communities. Community organizations all around us are doing amazing work, and we’re inspired and excited to support that work.

Stories from our Community is an ongoing series conceived to dive into some of these organizations*, bring their stories to life and spread the word about how they are making our communities better.

*Some of the organizations profiled in this series are recipients of MultiCare’s Community Partnership Fund, which awards funds to nonprofit organizations working on initiatives, programs and projects that improve our community.