The credit union's recent donations totaling $100,000 or more included a contribution of $100,000 to the United Services Organization to bring country music star Trace Atkins to Fort Hood, Texas, in November 2014.

"Over the past decade, I've been to 20 countries, but there's no greater country in the world than the United States of America," Schenck told attendees at the dedication. "The reason is because of communities like this. When the mayor and other government officials, neighbors and business leaders get together and put in sweat equity, they make lives better day in, day out for the communities in which they live and serve."

Schenck and other PenFed executives also noted that Habitat did not build the new homes along routine lines. Instead, the non-profit developer built the homes with passive construction – an approach that uses low-energy building techniques and efficient power generation such as solar energy to reduce homeowner utility costs and make the structures more environmentally sustainable.

"Habitat for Humanity D.C. takes a well thought out, green approach to bring dignity and hope to those who have been marginalized by poverty and homelessness," PenFed Chief Operating Officer Kevyn Myers said. "Seeing the happiness on the faces of the owners as they took possession their homes was like witnessing a big part of the American Dream come true."