Glens Falls Business Journal
By Ann Donnelly
When Sharon Horton took over as executive director of Habitat for Humanity of Northern Saratoga, Warren and Washington counties in June 2025, she brought extensive nonprofit experience and a deeply personal understanding of the power of homeownership. Today, she is leading the organization through a critical period of expansion to address a severe regional housing shortage.
The need for affordable housing in the area is dire. According to Horton, “Warren County’s overall housing vacancy rate is 3.6%, and the rental vacancy rate is an exceptionally low 0.4%, well below the 5% threshold that signals a housing shortage. Nearly 47% of renter households in the county are cost-burdened, and affordable rentals priced at levels accessible to minimum-wage workers are almost nonexistent.”
“The Warren County Housing Needs Study identifies significant gaps for households earning 0–50% and 50–80% AMI, particularly those seeking affordable starter homes and ownership opportunities below $300,000,” Horton shared. “These shortages are especially acute in communities outside Queensbury and Glens Falls. Also in Hudson Falls in Washington County. The combination of near-zero vacancy, long waiting lists, rapid absorption, and rising costs demonstrates a clear and urgent unmet need for affordable homeownership opportunities in our region.”
To address the crisis, Horton is leaning into Habitat’s core purpose, “to bring people together to build communities, homes, and hope.”
Her path to Habitat was shaped by personal adversity and a strong desire to serve. Horton began her career as a general manager in the hospitality industry before transitioning into nonprofit work with the American Cancer Society in Florida, the American Heart Association in New York and later serving as statewide executive director for the National Alliance on Mental Illness.
“Although I loved my role and I loved the people I interacted with … I almost felt like it was too close,” Horton said. She sought a role with “boots on the ground, more grassroots digging into the people,” which led her to Habitat.
Horton understands the families she serves because she has been in their shoes. As a former single mother of three, she remembers the life-changing experience of buying her first home.
“I knew how I felt after that happened, the feeling of sitting in my home that I worked hard to build, to get to that stage in my life and feeling empowered,” Horton said. “That investment in yourself and your family, the legacy that you leave for your children, I know how that feels. So, that really is a passion for me.”
Habitat serves hardworking families making between 50% and 80% of the area’s median income. Participants must demonstrate financial readiness, have a clear housing need and invest “sweat equity” hours into building homes or working at the local ReStore.
Under Horton’s leadership, the affiliate is evolving its construction strategies to address rising costs and weather delays. The organization is shifting toward modular homes that arrive with the shell complete and airtight, allowing volunteers to focus on finishing work such as painting, landscaping and installing hardware. This year, the organization is building three homes — one in Warrensburg and two in Hudson Falls.
One of the Hudson Falls projects will be a “Women Build,” an initiative Horton is particularly passionate about that reflects her desire to help women in need.
“I just always felt a calling to serve,” Horton said. “They passed along that gift of service to me, and I just feel like I need to pay it forward. It just fills my soul.”
For more information on Habitat for Humanity of Northern Saratoga, Warren and Washington counties, visit glensfallshabitat.org.