With the Start of Hurricane Season, Donation Underscores the Importance of Home Hardening and Preparing Communities for Future Storms

Renew Financial, the inventor of Property Assessed Clean Energy financing (PACE) and the most trusted provider of financing for home improvements, has donated $25,000 to Habitat for Humanity of Lee and Hendry Counties.

The donation, presented by Renew Financial Founder Cisco DeVries and Regional Director of Government Affairs Natalie Schneider, will support Habitat for Humanity’s Disaster Recovery Program, the long-term solution to address damage caused by natural disasters in Lee and Hendry Counties.

“Since our founding, Renew Financial has been dedicated to empowering homeowners to make their properties safe, efficient and comfortable. To that end, we’re very proud to support the critical work that Habitat for Humanity does every day,” said Renew Financial Founder and Chief Innovation Officer Cisco DeVries. “This donation, in addition to the home improvement financing option we offer through RenewPACE, will help to create a stronger, safer Florida.”

Shortly after Hurricane Irma, Renew Financial led several efforts to help Florida homeowners recover from the storm. These investments in Florida’s long-term recovery culminated in Thursday’s check presentation to Habitat for Humanity in honor of every Florida home strengthened in partnership with RenewPACE. Last month marked the start of a new hurricane season for Florida, underscoring the ongoing need for storm-proofing and other upgrades that make homes more secure and comfortable.

“Habitat for Humanity of Lee and Hendry Counties gratefully accepts Renew Financial’s contribution,” said Kitty Green, President of Habitat for Humanity of Lee and Hendry Counties. “Thanks to donors like Renew Financial, we are able to help seniors and others with nowhere else to turn repair their homes so they can have a safe, decent place to live.”

Fort Myers City Manager Saeed Kazemi and other community leaders attended the check presentation, which took place at the Fort Myers offices of Habitat for Humanity of Lee and Hendry Counties.

“Fort Myers families will benefit greatly from the availability of PACE financing,” said City Manager Kazemi. “This donation, made in honor of homes repaired since Hurricane Irma, enhances this benefit. With Habitat for Humanity and the availability of PACE for homeowners, Fort Myers and our surrounding region will be better prepared for future storms.”

Renew Financial’s PACE financing product, RenewPACE, has proved to be an effective option for homeowners needing to repair storm-damaged roofs or windows. RenewPACE is also a smart, proactive choice for homeowners seeking storm windows and roofs to better withstand future storms.

With RenewPACE, homeowners don’t have to pay the full cost of their storm-hardening or efficiency improvements at the time of the project. Instead, homeowners pay back the cost of their improvements in installments on their property tax bill. RenewPACE provides fixed interest rates and terms of up to 25 years, which may result in lower monthly payments for homeowners. RenewPACE utilizes 100% private capital (not tax dollars) to finance eligible improvements.

In the course of upgrading more than 220,000 American homes, PACE financing has created more than 42,000 local jobs in the home improvement industry.