Habitat for Humanity Leverages Spatial ETL in Affordable Housing Projects
Written by Safe Software
08 May 2008
Safe Software’s FME Enables Imperative Unified Data View
Vancouver, BC, May 8, 2008 - Habitat for Humanity has received FME, the recognized standard in spatial ETL, through Safe Software’s Software Grant Program. Dallas Area Habitat for Humanity will use FME to provide project planners and volunteers with a unified view of the spatial data they need to fulfill Habitat’s mandate to provide affordable housing for Dallas families in need.
"Today using FME, we are able to make our data usable much faster, increasing our efficiency in planning upcoming housing projects and focusing our volunteer efforts on building decent housing for deserving families," says Cyndy Lutz, Director of Real Estate at Dallas Habitat.
Habitat will use FME to bring information together into a single, unified dataset that they will use to support neighborhood planning, construction proposal and fundraising efforts. City-maintained ESRI Shape files will be gathered using web services through FME and combined with Habitat’s own land parcel information located in Microsoft Excel spreadsheets. In addition to outputting Shape files, Habitat also uses FME to output their data into KML for a visual presentation of their spatial data for use in fundraising efforts and volunteer kick-off events.
"We’re pleased to see Safe’s Software Grant Program helping charitable organizations like Habitat for Humanity make a true difference in our world," says Don Murray, President of Safe Software.
Safe Software’s Software Grant Program offers educational institutions and researchers, including non-profit organizations who conduct research, with the powerful spatial data translation, transformation, and integration capabilities of FME at no cost. Since its inception five years ago, the program has provided FME to 300 organizations.
About Dallas Habitat Dallas Area Habitat for Humanity (DAHfH) is a Christian ministry that builds quality, affordable homes in partnership with deserving families. Habitat’s homeownership program is an innovative model that offers low-income families the opportunity to own a home with affordable 0% interest loans. Homes are financed by generous donations from community supporters and largely built by the partner Habitat family with thousands of dedicated volunteers each year. As the largest nonprofit homebuilder in the City of Dallas, Dallas Area Habitat has served 600 low-income families with homeownership since 1986, investing $50 million in 20 neighborhoods of Dallas county to build new homes, neighborhoods and hope.
About Safe Software and FME Safe Software powers the flow of spatial data with its software platform, FME. The recognized standard in spatial ETL (extract, transform and load), FME is the only complete solution for data conversion. It delivers the most extensive format support for data translation and integration, and provides unlimited flexibility in data model transformation and data distribution.
FME is used by thousands of customers worldwide in a variety of industries including government, utilities, and petroleum. Its powerful data access technology also makes FME the choice of leading GIS, CAD, and database vendors for integration into their own solutions. Designed for true data interoperability, FME unleashes spatial data so people can use it where, when, and how they want to. For more information, visit www.safe.com.
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