Step 1 — Review the Grant Materials
You’re Invited!
Congratulations! You’ve received an invitation to consider this opportunity to apply for a $50,000 Connecting Hometowns Grant, funded by PG&E, that will be awarded in 2026 by Habitat for Humanity California to one Habitat affiliate in each of the five PG&E service regions:
NORTH COAST
NORTH VALLEY AND SIERRA
BAY AREA
SOUTH BAY AND CENTRAL COAST
CENTRAL VALLEY
Review Program + Eligibility Requirements
Can you host a team of at least 20 PG&E employee volunteers for an eligible activity during the month of June?
Do you agree to the program requirements and post-event reporting?
Step 2 — Apply
Submit an Application
If your affiliate is invited to apply for a Connecting Hometowns Grant and you wish to submit a proposal, prepare as much detail as you can about your Homeownership Month event and submit a complete application - due on February 23, 2026.
Grant Awards + Memorandums of Understanding
Grant awards will be announced on February 26, 2026.
Habitat California will enter into a partnership with affiliate awardees via a Memorandum of Understanding.
This is the stage in the process where project details - location(s) and date(s) need to be finalized.
MOUs will be distributed by March 5, and are due on March 16, 2026.
Attend Welcome Webinar
Habitat California will host a mandatory welcome webinar to go over grant and program details with awardees and to answer any questions you may have.
The date of this meeting has yet to be determined, but awardees will be notified once it is scheduled.
Step 3 — Plan and Host Your Connecting Hometowns Event During National Homeownership Month - June, 2026
Plan Your Activities
Coordinate the details of your Connecting Hometowns volunteer event:
activity details
material requirements
safety requirements
staffing needs
secure any welcome speakers and craft any messages planned
schedule/run of show
location and project prep
order lunch for volunteers
make sure you’ve received your event branding package from Habitat CA
Coordinate Volunteers
PG&E will be the lead on recruitment of their employee volunteers. Affiliates will be connected with the PG&E volunteer manager to provide:
affiliate volunteer waivers
event date, location, activity, and other details via a survey from PG&E designed to help them populate their internal volunteer registration portal
Event Promotion + Media Engagement
Habitat California and PG&E will provide each affiliate awardee a Connecting Hometowns event branding package with the following:
25 volunteer t-shirts (to be provided morning of event)
1 event banner
And a promotional toolkit with the following:
template press release/media advisory
cut and paste social media copy and graphics
newsletter/website content
Your affiliate will be provided a regional PG&E media relations contact to work with you on press engagement.
Each awardee affiliate is encouraged to engage their local media market (with PG&E support) and may host a regional PG&E executive.
One awardee affiliate may be selected to host a campaign media event that will include broader media engagement and inclusion of a PG&E executive.
Hold Your Event
You’re ready! Let’s do this!
Step 4 — Post-Event Reporting + Grant Distribution
Brief Impact Report
We will require affiliates to fill out a brief impact report form upon completion of their event.
Event Photos/Video
Affiliates are required to submit 7-10 hi-resolution, quality, branded photos of PG&E volunteers engaging at their event.
Promotional Examples
Affiliates will be asked to provide 2-3 examples of promotional publications - i.e. social media posts, press, newsletter articles.
Grant Distribution
Grant monies will be distributed via EFT to affiliates according to this schedule:
$25,000 upon execution of MOU (on or around March 16, 2026)
$25,000 upon completion of required post-event reporting