Habitat for Humanity of Hillsborough County became an affiliate in 1987 and is part of a global, nonprofit housing organization founded and operated on Christian principles. Habitat Hillsborough is dedicated to eliminating substandard housing locally through constructing and preserving homes; advocating for fair and just housing policies; and providing training and access to resources to help families improve their housing conditions.
Tina Forcier,
Chief Executive Officer
Tina has worked to lead the strategic planning at Habitat for Humanity of Hillsborough County (HFHHC). She joined HFHHC in January 2014 as Finance Director after serving on the Board of Directors for six months. In April 2015, Tina was named CEO. A CPA by training, Tina has served the Tampa banking community as a CFO. Tina is focused on building the financial systems and community relationships necessary to significantly grow the production and performance of HFHHC. She maintains a passion for improving her community as well as contributing to the realization of strategic goals and positively impacting the organization’s culture.
Tina received her undergraduate degree from the University of South Florida and has maintained her CPA license since December 2012. She obtained a Community Real Estate Development certificate from USF in 2016 and a Certified Fundraising Executive certificate in 2022. Tina serves on the Habitat for Humanity International Oversight & Accountability Committee, the Habitat Florida Governance Committee, the Board of Directors of Children’s Network of Hillsborough County, and on the Florida Community Loan Fund’s Loan Committee.
Q&A with Tina Forcier:
Why does participating as an Investor in the Tampa Bay EDC make sense for your organization?
As an affordable housing developer, builder, and lender, we are focused on the economic development of our community. The families that participate in our program need to have a great place to live, work, and play, and the EDC is important to ensure we have a thriving community for them to do that.
How would you describe the role HFHHC plays in driving our local economy forward?
We provide affordable homeownership opportunities to families in our community who are also part of the community workforce. Having an affordable place to call home and build wealth through homeownership contributes to breaking the cycle of poverty. In addition, we work with many subcontractors and vendors for construction products as well as vendors for marketing, PR, event space, etc. We also operate three thrift stores, our ReStores, that provide new and used merchandise to the community at discounted prices so they can obtain household goods at a price they can afford.
What does the future of HFHHC look like to you three years from now?
We have been focused on providing more homeownership opportunities in a tough economy. This requires layering of funds and considering innovative approaches to construction products as well as funding mechanisms. In three years, we hope to have a decent land inventory to support the growing need we see in our community. In addition, we will become more efficient as we focus on ways to streamline activities so we can serve more families.
What would you consider the greatest reward for fulfilling HFHHC’s vision of a world where everyone has a decent place to live?
There is no better feeling than knowing you have played a role in making someone’s life better. When a child has their own room for the first time or a parent tells us that they are the first homeowner in their family and have the opportunity to build wealth for future generations, it is fulfilling and rewarding.
