Haven Home Foundation

What Haven Home Foundation does

Haven Home Foundation, operating under the brand Hearth & Ethos, is a South Carolina-based nonprofit founded in 2020 that acquires, renovates, and owns single-family homes in underserved communities to provide long-term affordable rental housing. The organization screens prospective residents via a self-serve waitlist application on havenhome.org, with eligibility restricted to South Carolina residents who meet criteria on employment or benefits status, income, age, and housing voucher availability. Beyond housing placement, the organization runs wraparound social programs — financial literacy, credit repair (with a 640 minimum credit-score target for program exit), youth engagement, mental health counseling, career development, and a six-step Homeownership Pathway — intended to move residents from rental tenancy toward homeownership and economic self-sufficiency.

The operating model has two interlocking components. The financial model uses mission-aligned private debt from Bear Impact Fund to acquire and renovate homes; nonprofit ownership provides property tax exemption and long-term affordability protections that lower operating costs, and rental cash flow is systematically reinvested into acquiring additional homes and funding social programs rather than distributed as profit. The social initiatives layer couples each resident with a coach who conducts needs assessment and goal-setting, producing what the organization describes as a regenerative, community-first model. From a technical standpoint, there is no proprietary software product; the "technology" is the operating playbook, capital structure, and service workflow.

The organization is led by Founder and Chairperson Lauren Taylor Dreher, who brings over 15 years of institutional single-family rental operations experience (5,000+ career transactions) and previously founded Realty Haven and Rent Haven in 2017. The board includes private equity investor Abhi Golhar (Meridian 84), multi-state real estate franchisee Jae Kim (Exit Real Estate in Alabama, Georgia, South Carolina), and institutional closing-operations specialist Caitlin Parker (Costner Law). The organization serves a deeply undersupplied market — South Carolina's 72,565 subsidized units cover only 20% of low-income renters, and 140,000+ renter households spend more than half of gross income on rent — and is currently raising capital through an accredited-investor offering hosted on Bear Impact Fund's platform.

Name

Haven Home Foundation

Legal name

Haven Home Foundation

Website

https://havenhome.org

Company type

Private

Founded year

2020

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

11–50 employees

Short description

Haven Home Foundation (operating as Hearth & Ethos) is a South Carolina nonprofit founded in 2020 that acquires and renovates single-family homes in underserved communities, providing long-term affordable rental housing and wraparound social programs to help low-income residents achieve homeownership.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Product category

Affordable Housing Services

NAICS

Other Community Housing Services (624229), Residential Remodelers (236118)

SIC

Services-To Dwellings & Other Buildings (7340)

akta.pro primary industry

Affordable Housing & Community Development (Housing, Community Land Trusts) (BPAGALAC)

Keywords

• Affordable housing services
• Nonprofit home ownership
• Single-family rental housing
• Resident social programs
• Housing affordability programs

Headquarters

HQ city

Columbia

HQ country

United States

HQ region

North America

Offices1 record

Markets served

GTM type

B2C

Offering type

Services

Cost components

Operations, Supply Chain, Personnel, Infrastructure, Marketing or Sales

Revenue model

1. Rental income from single-family homes: Cash flow from rental income on acquired single-family homes. As a nonprofit with property tax exemption and long-term affordability protections, rental revenue is reinvested into acquiring additional homes and expanding social programs that support resident economic mobility.

Go-to-market motion1 record

Distribution channels1 record

Marketing channels3 records

Core offering

Haven Home Foundation, operating as Hearth & Ethos, acquires and renovates single-family homes in underserved South Carolina communities using mission-aligned private debt capital from Bear Impact Fund. It provides long-term affordable rental housing to low-income residents with case-by-case affordability determinations, and complements housing with wraparound social programs (financial literacy, credit repair, youth engagement, mental health counseling, career development) designed to move residents toward self-sufficiency and homeownership.

Product overview

Hearth & Ethos is a nonprofit affordable housing organization operating a two-fold model: (1) a financial model that acquires, renovates, and owns single-family homes in underserved communities, keeping costs low through nonprofit ownership and property tax exemptions, with rental income reinvested into expansion; and (2) social initiatives including resident coaching, financial literacy, credit repair, youth engagement, mental health counseling, career development, and family planning programs designed to help residents achieve self-sufficiency and homeownership. The organization partners with Bear Impact Fund for mission-aligned private debt capital.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Products and services

• Hearth & Ethos Affordable Housing Program A nonprofit housing program that acquires and renovates single-family homes in underserved South Carolina communities, providing long-term affordable housing through nonprofit ownership and property tax exemptions. Cash flow from rental income is reinvested into acquiring additional homes and expanding resident social programs. Residents are sourced via a website waitlist that screens for SC residency, employment/benefits status, income, age, and housing voucher availability.
• Resident Coaching & Social Initiatives Wraparound social programs for Hearth & Ethos residents including financial literacy, credit repair (with a 640 minimum credit score target before residents exit the program), youth engagement, mental health counseling, career development, and family planning services.
• Homeownership Pathway Program A six-step resident pathway model: purchase housing, renovate housing, place residents, assign a resident coach, conduct needs assessment and goals, and equip residents for homeownership, designed to help residents achieve homeownership and build generational wealth.

Segments2 records

Ideal customer profiles3 records

Technology focussed No

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Scale indicators4 records

Recent moves7 records

Expansion highlights5 records

Direct peers

• Habitat for Humanity: Large nonprofit focused on affordable single-family home acquisition, construction, and renovation for low-income households, with a homeownership pathway model. Comparable mission and resident profile to Hearth & Ethos, though typically more volunteer-driven and reliant on donations rather than private debt capital.
• Aeon: Nonprofit affordable housing provider that acquires, renovates, and operates single-family and multifamily rental homes in the Twin Cities, paired with resident support services. Closely mirrors Hearth & Ethos' acquisition-plus-services model at a more mature stage.
• Rebuilding Together: National nonprofit that rehabilitates homes for low-income homeowners, focused on home repair and accessibility renovations. Comparable nonprofit home renovation mission, though targeting existing homeowners rather than rental residents.

Broad incumbents

• Enterprise Community Partners: One of the largest U.S. nonprofit affordable housing developers and investors, operating across multiple states with a mix of rental and for-sale affordable housing. Comparable nonprofit affordable housing mission at much larger scale and broader geographic footprint.
• Mercy Housing: National nonprofit affordable housing developer and operator with a portfolio of rental and mixed-income properties and resident services. Overlaps with Hearth & Ethos on nonprofit ownership and wraparound resident programming, but operates at significantly larger scale.
• BRIDGE Housing: Nonprofit affordable housing developer focused on California and the Pacific Northwest, building and operating affordable rental and mixed-use communities. Comparable nonprofit ownership model with on-site resident services.
• Local Initiatives Support Corporation (LISC): National nonprofit CDFI and community development intermediary that finances and supports affordable housing and neighborhood revitalization. Comparable mission-aligned capital deployment into affordable housing, though as a funder/financier rather than direct owner-operator.
• NHP Foundation: Nonprofit affordable housing owner-operator providing affordable rental homes and resident services across multiple U.S. markets. Comparable nonprofit ownership and wraparound service model at national scale.

Market position

Strengths5 records

Weaknesses5 records

Competitive moat5 records

Key risks6 records

Key highlights6 records

Customer concentration

• Facebookfacebook.com/HavenHomeOrg
• LinkedInlinkedin.com/company/haven-home-foundation

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Profiles4 records

Funding overview

Funding rounds

Investors

Funding detail is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

M&A

Investments

M&A and investment is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

Frequently asked questions about Haven Home Foundation