Interview with Habitat for Humanity CEO Bryan Wong

An interview with Bryan Wong, former Monrovia School Board member and currently CEO of the Monrovia-based San Gabriel Valley Habitat for Humanity. 

Following the Eaton fire, Habitat has committed to helping build 25 new homes. How do you decide which families receive help, and what happens to qualified applicants you cannot accommodate?

We’re proud to share that San Gabriel Valley Habitat for Humanity has expanded its commitment from 25 homes to 40. Five homes have been completed; 20 are under construction, and many more are in preconstruction.

Our primary criteria are straightforward: families must be low- to moderate-income, the home must have been owner-occupied before the fire, and the family must be committed to returning to the community once it’s rebuilt.

For families who qualify but whom we can’t yet accommodate, the honest answer is funding. The need is greater than our current resources. Every dollar we raise helps us build another home, so we will continue building as resources allow. Our goal is to help as many fire-affected families return home as possible.

What has most delayed or increased the cost of rebuilding—permits, insurance, financing, labor, materials or something else—and what specific change would remove the greatest obstacle?

Rebuilding 6,000 homes in a fire-devastated area is extraordinarily dynamic, and we’ve seen challenges across the board from permitting and insurance to financing, labor and materials. We’ve worked with the County to cut permitting time by 80%, which is a significant improvement.

We’re also partnering with insurers and others to ensure required fire-hardening improvements translate into lower hazard premiums. We’re also developing two 0% loan programs: one for home reconstruction and another, with no interest or payments, to help families cover living expenses—such as rent, car payments, and existing loans—while they rebuild.

Looking ahead, I expect wage and material inflation as construction ramps up, and tariff uncertainty is a real wild card. But if I had to identify the greatest obstacle, it is making sure families have enough financing to bridge the gap between what insurance provides and what it actually costs to rebuild and live through the process.

That’s why access to flexible, affordable financing could make the greatest difference. And I will say this: government entities at every level are working harder on this than I’ve seen in a long time.

After serving on the Monrovia school board for many years, what connections do you see between housing instability and students’ enrollment, attendance or performance?

Housing instability has always concerned educators, but a disaster of this scale creates an entirely new dimension. Many of these are families who have never experienced housing instability before, and now their children are navigating new schools, new classmates and unfamiliar surroundings while their parents face enormous uncertainty about where they will ultimately live.

That instability can affect much more than where a child sleeps. It can disrupt enrollment and attendance, make it harder for students to maintain routines and relationships, and create additional stress that can affect their ability to focus and learn. Schools are absorbing that disruption too, dealing with reduced enrollment as families leave the area, on top of ongoing pressures around budgets, class size and facilities.

Students, parents and educators are remarkably resilient, but stability matters. The sooner we can help families rebuild their homes and reestablish a permanent place in the community, the sooner we can give children the consistency and sense of belonging they need to thrive.

- Brad Haugaard