Our “Couch Chat” panelists at the Faith Leader Breakfast.
On September 30, local faith leaders gathered with Habitat to discuss how congregations and community organizations can work together to build hope, strengthen families, and expand access to affordable homeownership.
The Faith Leader Breakfast gave attendees an opportunity to learn about Habitat for Humanity’s work in Lee and Hendry counties, discuss current housing challenges, and consider how faith communities can help create meaningful, long-term solutions.
During a featured “Couch Chat” session, attendees also heard from a faith- and purpose-driven panel, including Pastor Charlie Mitchell of City Collaboration at Summit Church, Reverend Bill Van Oss of St. Michael and All Angels, Pastor Yolie Brito of Next Level Church, and Habitat leadership. Together, they shared how service, partnership, and faith in action can create lasting change for families and individuals in our community.
Today, with the median home price about five times the median household income, affordable homeownership remains out of reach for working families. These challenges affect people throughout the community, including educators, healthcare professionals, service workers, older adults, and families seeking stable housing close to their workplaces, schools, and support networks.
They are the people worshipping beside us on Sundays. The families raising children in our neighborhoods. It’s the teachers educating the next generation. It’s the healthcare workers who provide care for our families and friends. They are older adults seeking stability and a place to age with dignity in the communities they call home.
Discussion at the Faith Leader Breakfast emphasized that serving alongside Habitat and its mission is an opportunity to put faith into action.
“Building community and bringing people together is what we’re about as people of faith; loving your neighbor,” Reverend Bill Van Oss said. “It’s about being a church outside of the doors.”
Being of service can take many forms when partnering with Habitat. Through volunteerism, community engagement, financial support, and more, faith communities can contribute to efforts that help individuals and families to achieve strength, stability and self-reliance.
“I hope, as faith communities, we’re starting to see a vision of making lasting change by partnering with Habitat,” Pastor Charlie Mitchell said. “It’s not just a moment. These are literally generational impacts.”
The conversation also touched on the link between housing and a sense of belonging in the community. As recent nationwide conversations have highlighted, “the housing crisis is a belonging crisis,” underscoring that the solution to housing is more than building homes: it’s about creating a place where people can establish roots, know one another, and be known.
The Faith Leader Breakfast reinforced the importance of partnership, collaboration, and shared responsibility in addressing local housing needs. By bringing faith communities together, the event fostered meaningful dialogue on how collective action can expand access to safe, stable, and affordable housing for more local families.
