ST. PETERSBURG, Fla. — Kiera Mitchell was thrilled to receive the key to her new home in South St. Petersburg on Thursday, thanks to the Pinellas and West Pasco Chapter of Habitat for Humanity. But she jokingly acknowledged that she wasn’t sure that this day would ever happen.

“I think I quit over a thousand times in my head. Especially on landscaping day,” Mitchell said to a crowd of friends and family who gathered for the ceremony, referring to a part of the rigorous home ownership “sweat equity” program that all people who qualify to become a homeowner with Habitat for Humanity must complete.

Mitchell is a St. Pete native who has worked for the past seven years with Gulf Coast Jewish Family Services. She has three kids who will be moving in with her; daughters Mikeria and Zaniyah, and her son, Ramiere.

In addition to getting the key to her home, the three children also received new bicycles from Kids Pedal Power. And their refrigerator and pantry were filled with fresh food courtesy of Feeding Tampa Bay.

Mike Sutton, the CEO for Habitat for Humanity in Pinellas and West Pasco counties, says that with the ongoing real estate boom in the Bay area, it’s increasingly becoming more challenging for the organization to carry out its mission. That’s coupled with the huge spike in construction costs – especially lumber – which now results in the average home costing approximately $30,000 more to build than in 2019.

That’s why Scott’s financial gift to his chapter is so huge, he says.

“That MacKenzie Scott gift is going to help us ensure that we can continue to do our work,” he said. “We’re going to get deeper and wider in the community and be able to help more families.”

In a press release issued by Habitat for Humanity, the organization said that the donation will “allow Habitat to expand advocacy for policy proposals and legislation that enable millions of people access to affordable housing through its Cost of Home campaign; increase Black homeownership in the U.S. by targeting current systemic barriers through an initiative that will launch this summer; and leverage innovative capital investments that service communities of color.”

In addition to the $436 million that she donated to Habitat for Humanity last month, Scott also donated $275 million to Planned Parenthood, the largest gift from a single donor that organization has ever received. You can read the list of all of the organizations she donated to last month from her Medium blog post from March 23. All told she gave away $3.9 billion last month to 465 organizations.