Success Story: Habitat for Humanity of Michigan
Modernizing Housing Operations
with Salesforce and HomeKeeper
About the Client
Habitat for Humanity of Michigan supports a network of 43 local affiliates across the state, working to expand access to affordable homeownership, provide home repair programs, and deliver HUD-approved financial counseling services.
As part of a broader ecosystem of housing and community development organizations, Habitat Michigan plays a critical role in helping individuals and families achieve and sustain homeownership while strengthening communities statewide.
“We knew this wasn’t just about moving data, it was about transitioning from a constrained system to a more flexible platform that could better support both our day-to-day operations and future growth.”
About the Challenge
To manage these operations, Habitat Michigan was using Compass, a system developed through the NeighborWorks America network to support housing counseling and community development programs. While Compass provided a foundation for managing client and program data, it operated as a standalone system with limited flexibility for customization, reporting, and evolving organizational needs.
In response to these limitations, Habitat Michigan invested in Salesforce and identified HomeKeeper – a Salesforce-based application purpose-built for affordable housing organizations – as their path forward. HomeKeeper offers a more modern, cloud-based environment with greater scalability, improved reporting capabilities, and the ability to adapt alongside the organization.
The Opportunity: Building on a Stronger Foundation
While the shift to Salesforce and HomeKeeper addressed the limitations of Compass, the goal for Habitat Michigan went beyond simply implementing a new system.
“We knew this wasn’t just about moving data, it was about transitioning from a constrained system to a more flexible platform that could better support both our day-to-day operations and future growth,” said Ernesto Villarreal, HR & IT Manager at Habitat Michigan. “We also saw this as an opportunity to better organize our data and make it more actionable, so we could support our programs and affiliates more effectively.”
This shift created an opportunity not only to modernize systems, but to transform how data supports decision-making across the organization.
The Canvas Cloud Solution: Extending Migration Capabilities + Ongoing Support
Canvas Cloud was engaged in January 2026 to support a combined data migration and Collab Managed Services project.
The initial focus was a large-scale migration of historical client and program data from Compass into HomeKeeper. Because HomeKeeper migrations typically support only up to three years of historical data, Habitat Michigan needed a partner who could preserve a broader set of historical records. Canvas Cloud met that need by successfully migrating five years of data, ensuring continuity while enabling a smoother transition to a more modern system.
Following the migration, the engagement transitioned into ongoing Collab Managed Services, providing continued support and optimization.
Key post-migration initiatives included:
Setting up single sign-on (SSO)
Creating and refining reports
Addressing a backlog of administrative and system tasks
Refining and restructuring data to align with updated organizational criteria
The Results: Clean Data, Greater Efficiency, and Room to Grow
The migration provided Habitat Michigan with a cleaner, more intuitive system in HomeKeeper, making it easier to manage client data, track services, and generate insights.
Data Migration Overview
Contacts: 6,300 records
Service Files (Objects): 7,600 records
Log Items (appointments, calls, notes): 43,000 records
In addition to successfully migrating a high volume of historical data, the transition positioned the organization for improved reporting, streamlined workflows, and better long-term scalability.
“Canvas Cloud helped us take what was a very complex and restrictive system and turn it into something that’s clean, flexible, and much easier to work with. We’re now in a much better position to support our affiliates and grow,” shared Villarreal. “Beyond the migration, the ongoing managed services have been incredibly valuable, and the Canvas Cloud team has been great to work with as we continue to refine and improve the system.”
With a modern, Salesforce-based system now in place, Habitat Michigan is better equipped to operate efficiently, support its affiliates, and stay focused on its mission of expanding access to affordable housing. Through an ongoing partnership with Canvas Cloud’s Collab Managed Services, the organization continues to refine, enhance, and evolve its system to meet changing needs.
“Canvas Cloud helped us take what was a very complex and restrictive system and turn it into something that’s clean, flexible, and much easier to work with. We’re now in a much better position to support our affiliates and grow.”
About Canvas Cloud
Founded in 2019, Canvas Cloud is a Certified Salesforce Consulting Partner helping nonprofits and businesses turn Salesforce into a platform that better supports their people, processes, and goals. Our U.S.-based team provides Salesforce implementations, migrations, optimizations, and ongoing support through Collab Managed Services™, combining technical expertise with a practical, collaborative approach to consulting.
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