August 10th marked Monique Davis’s first 100 days with Habitat for Humanity of Orange County as our new CEO! She joined the Habitat team in May, and she has already led us through a productive and exciting summer.
TCA Golf Tournament
We kicked off June with TCA Architects’ 21st Annual Charity Golf Tournament at Tustin Ranch Golf club, our first big fundraising event since Monique joined our team. The day consisted of 18 holes of golf, a $10,000 putting challenge, raffle prizes, and a dinner reception. Through this event, TCA Architects raised $125,000 for Habitat for Humanity of Orange County’s affordable homeownership mission!
Welcoming Home Families to Stanton
On June 11th, we were joined by volunteers, sponsors, and community members to welcome 6 families into their brand new Habitat OC homes during our Stanton Dedication Day. Monique offered some heartfelt words to the families alongside the Mayor of Stanton, David Shawver. Each family received the key and mortgage to their home in order to mark the beginning of a wonderful new chapter in their lives.
To make the day even more special, Automobile Club of Southern California partnered with Habitat OC to make dreams come true by surprising each family with a generous gift waiting for them in their garages. When the garage doors opened, the families were shocked to find a new car parked inside!
First Board Meeting
Monique met with the Habitat OC board members for the first time to discuss future opportunities for Habitat OC to create a deeper and longer-lasting impact. Monique shared her passion for providing housing to the vulnerable and her vision of using Habitat OC as a means to champion financial literacy and build innovative means to build more homes to house more families.
OC Human Relations Townhall
On June 15th, Monique joined County Supervisor, Lisa Bartlett, and others at Soka University to discuss and develop people and community-centered strategies in order to eliminate bias-motivated hate in Orange County in response to the racially motivated shooting at Geneva Presbyterian Church in Laguna Woods only 6 weeks earlier.
The meeting both explored how hate can manifest itself in society and focused on developing various local and national strategies to prevent any further hate-related incidents from happening in OC and beyond.
Santa Ana Chamber of Commerce
Our previous CEO, Sharon Ellis, formerly served as a board member for the Santa Ana Chamber, and now Monique continues that legacy by joining the Board of Directors herself!
Santa Ana is home to the Habitat for Humanity of Orange County office, one of our ReStores, 30 affordable Habitat homes, and our newest development. By joining the board, Monique aligns herself with and supports the vision to transform our community “into a model of sustainable prosperity.”
Breaking Ground in Santa Ana
Last week, we celebrated the groundbreaking for two new workforce homes to be built in Santa Ana’s historic French Park neighborhood. We were pleased to be joined by Mayor Vicente Sarmiento of the City of Santa Ana, Ward 6 Councilmember David Penaloza, and Constituent Services Manager Manuel Chavez from the Office of District 2 OC Supervisor Katrina Foley.
These homes will mark our 31st and 32nd builds in the City of Santa Ana. We are excited to welcome home two new Habitat families to this development next summer!
Planning for the Future
Monique joined the Executive Team for a meeting to develop a strategic plan that highlights the goals of Habitat OC over the next five years, which will be unveiled at the beginning of 2023!
Can’t wait to hear more? There are so many exciting things happening at Habitat until then, including Framing Day at our new development in Santa Ana! Follow us on LinkedIn to stay in the know!
Ready to be a part of this life-changing work yourself? Donate today!
