Durham Habitat receives $5,000 in funding from State Farm towards youth engagement

March 31, 2025

Durham Habitat received a $5,000 Youth Action grant from State Farm to engage and mobilize young leaders to create affordable housing in Durham. This funding is part of a $650,000 donation to Habitat for Humanity International from State Farm to support the global housing nonprofit’s youth initiatives.

State Farm’s Youth Action Grant supports local Habitat for Humanity affiliates in developing innovative strategies to engage youth outside of the traditional home build volunteer experience. The funding from the Youth Action grant went directly to support the continuation and expansion of Durham Habitat’s Youth Build program, which was launched in 2022. With the financial support of this grant, Durham Habitat increased the number of Youth Build events from six events in 2023 to ten in 2024. The funding also allowed for the expansion of the youth programming to include a new LEGO Build program.

The Youth Build program invites participants to volunteer at Durham Habitat’s warehouse, where they have the opportunity to learn more about Habitat’s mission and do practical, hands-on projects. The completed projects are then given to Durham Habitat homebuyers as housewarming gifts upon the dedication of their completed home. During the grant period, Youth Build participants helped complete welcome signs, bookshelves, welcome cards, and key hook plaques for homebuyers and their families as a welcome to their new homes. The LEGO Build program invites youths and adults to work together to make their own vision of a safe and affordable place to live out of LEGO Bricks. Through the program, participants learn more about Habitat and the home building process.

State Farm employees also supported Durham Habitat’s work through hands-on volunteering on the Mt. Vernon build site. Volunteers spent their morning constructing a shed and helping Habitat staff prepare a home for closing. “Volunteering is a great way to give back. Using my time and energy to help someone improve their situation is one of the most rewarding ways to invest my human capital,” shared Chris Mervin of State Farm. Another volunteer added “volunteering gives me the opportunity to step outside of my everyday routine and truly make an impact, helping to create homes and hope for families who need it most.”

State Farm has been a supporter of Habitat for Humanity International’s youth initiatives since 2007. With State Farm’s support, Habitat has engaged more than 805,000 youth and more than $3.4 million has been raised to match State Farm grants by Habitat organizations in more than 300 communities across the country.