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Written by Clark Vilardebo
Here at Habitat for Humanity York County, our mission is seeking to put God’s love into action by bringing people together to build homes, communities, and hope.
In order to accomplish that mission and advance the beloved community , we place an emphasis on advocating for what Habitat does.
Summersby Okey, Director of Development and Advocacy here at Habitat for Humanity York County, plays a big role in that.
Okey joined Habitat in 2024, saying that “the solid foundation that Habitat has for truly caring about people and for making a difference” inspired her to join. With a background in political science and philosophy, social justice has always been important to her.
Being the Director of Advocacy and Development, Okey oversees the fundraising side of things, such as grants, individual donations, and partnerships, along with gifted items like construction materials or services.
Government advocacy is also an area of focus, though.
“We do local, state and federal advocacy. So when we’re doing advocacy, it is not in favor or of against any party or candidate. It’s always non-partisan and always focused on issues,” Okey said.
On the federal level, we work with Habitat for Humanity International and we’re currently focusing on two things: appropriations and theROAD to Housing Act.
“We’re advocating through the budget process for certain appropriations for federal funding that supports affordable homeownership,” Okey said.
These include community development block grants, HOME dollars for construction and development of affordable home ownership and rental properties, and SHOP, which deals with repair and maintenance for homes.
The ROAD to Housing Act legislation just passed in the Senate., This is a major step forward in a transformative housing legislation package, as it is the first bipartisan housing bill to be approved by the Senate in over a decade.
The next step is for the Senate and House to reconcile their versions of the bill.
On the state level, Habitat is currently seeking access to the S.C. Housing funds – a process that has been 15 years in the making.
It’s a similar process at the local level.
“In South Carolina and York County, Rock Hill is an “entitlement community,” which means they receive an automatic allocation of Community Development Block Grant (CDBG) funding because of the population; they are the only municipality in York County that reaches the population threshold to get that automatic entitlement,” Okey said. “So York County also receives an allocation because at the county level, not the municipal level, every year for the past five years, since we’ve reached the threshold to receive that, the county government has said, ‘No, thank you. We don’t want those dollars.’ We are estimating that it’s probably about $2 million for the county that they’re turning down.”
This money wouldn’t just go to affordable housing development, but infrastructure and workforce development too.
As a result of advocacy efforts, it was discovered that the county council didn’t know that the county staff was turning down this Community Development Block Grant funding, so members of the county council are now on board to advocate for the county to receive this funding.
Raising money for Habitat’s programs is another focus of Okey’s role.
Okey says the most difficult part of her job is “100% the funding landscape in York County.”
“We live in a very affluent and philanthropic pocket of rural South Carolina, but accessing those funds is difficult at times,” Okey said.
A major accomplishment from Okey’s work is Habitat for Humanity York County receiving their first federal funding: a $150,000 grant from the U.S. Department of Agriculture.
The Housing Preservation Grant is designed to accomplish $150,000 worth of home repairs, which is about 15 to 30 critical home repairs in the rural part of York County.
Advocacy and development is certainly a grueling process, but it can also be fulfilling.
“Being able to interact with families, to build alongside families, to be there when they get the keys to their home, to watch them from beginning to end – it’s super fulfilling,” Okey said.
