Twin Cities Habitat for Humanity renews $125 million mortgage backing from Bremer Bank, appoints Sharon Sayles Belton as board chair
In 2017, nonprofit homebuilder Twin Cities Habitat for Humanity embarked upon the largest banking partnership of any Habitat for Humanity affiliate in the country — a mortgage lending program for low- and moderate-income households backed by St. Paul-based Bremer Bank.
The nonprofit, which is based on University Avenue in St. Paul, recently renewed that partnership with Bremer, to the tune of $125 million.
Twin Cities Habitat for Humanity’s “Home Loan Impact Fund” has helped nearly 500 families purchase homes at low fixed interest rates, and the renewal is expected to benefit 500 more over the next three years. Bremer Bank buys the mortgages from Habitat’s wholly owned mortgage company, TCHFH Lending, Inc., which has approved nearly $100 million in home loans to date.
The goal is that families pay no more than 30 percent of their income toward housing. The relationship with Bremer is expected to boost the nonprofit’s new strategic plan, which focuses on advancing racial equity in housing.
The homebuilding-and-lending nonprofit is led by former St. Paul Mayor Chris Coleman. The board of Twin Cities Habitat for Humanity recently appointed another former mayor — former Minneapolis Mayor Sharon Sayles Belton — as board chair, and welcomed six new members to their first terms of board service. Sayles Belton is currently vice president of government affairs and community relations at Thomson Reuters.
The new board members include Brandon Berg, a senior vice president with the Andersen Corporation; Mark Copman, president of the Stationery and Office Supplies division at 3M; Scott Hietpas, chief executive officer of Computype; Nash Shaikh, chief of staff to the chief executive officer of BlueCross BlueShield of MN; Dean Wahlin, retail market manager for home lending with Wells Fargo and DeLinda Washington, a senior vice president with HealthPartners.
