SAN ANTONIO – Inflation and supply chain shortages have posed several challenges for many local organizations and businesses, and Habitat for Humanity of San Antonio has been no exception.
“So, house cost alone, the cost of materials, all of that has gone up from the beginning of the pandemic until now,” said Stephanie Wiese, vice president of Habitat for Humanity of San Antonio.
Wiese said at the beginning of 2020 that the cost to build a home was roughly $95,000. Now, that amount is much more.
“They are costing us more than $120,000 to build,” said Wiese.
Habitat for Humanity has had to learn how to navigate through the higher costs and supply shortages, but none of the challenges have impeded production.
“We’re starting to get to the end of the wave in terms of some of the cost being super absorbent, exorbitant. But it’s been, it’s been truly very hard to get building materials up until now,” said Wiese.
In Bexar County, Habit for Humanity was able to finish off this year with 53 habitat homes and three in Guadalupe County.
Weise said their latest development is a 90-acre tract of land located on the South Side. The latest neighborhood is called Rancho Carlota.
The property was obtained in 2018 for residential development to serve thousands of families.
“I think what mostly a lot of these costs have done is prevented us from growing more. We have so much need in San Antonio, and we really wanted to be able to grow more,” said Weise.
There are more than 100,000 families in San Antonio in need of affordable housing.
Despite the challenges, construction hasn’t stopped and the plan is to build 250 homes on Rancho Carlota in the coming years.
“So, we’re trying to increase and we want to stay on that track. But really what has helped us has been the generosity of the San Antonio community. Everyone coming together, $10 checks, hundred-thousand-dollar checks. It all makes a difference. It all helps our families be able to afford a nice, decent, stable home,” said Weiss.
If you or anyone you know is interested in contributing monetarily or volunteering, visit www.habitatsa.org or call 210-223-5203 for more information.