Habitat for Humanity was founded in 1976 with the lofty and long-term goal
of making sure that every man woman and child on the face of the Earth was
provided with simple, decent shelter. Habitat houses are small, generally
single story buildings that simply provide a family with a decent place to
live. Families work along side Habitat members on the houses, and pay back
the cost of the houses through interest-free loans. The loan payments are
used to build more houses. Since 1976 Habitat has been able to build
300,000 houses in more than ninety different countries.
Habitat for Humanity was founded and remains a non-profit, non-denominational
Christian organization. Families are not chosen based on their religion,
however, and members of Habitat come from many different religious backgrounds.
Millions of Americans face a housing crisis. In fact,
5.1 million American families have "worst-case" housing needs, forced to pay
more than half their income for housing, endure overcrowded conditions and/or
live in houses with severe physical deficiencies. While the number of families
in poverty is growing, the number of affordable rental units is shrinking, and
most families who qualify for government housing assistance aren't receiving any
aid.
Worldwide, the need is even greater. Some 2 billion people worldwide live in
poverty housing. More than 1 billion live in urban slums, and that figure is
expected to double by 2030. Many of these people earn less than US$2 per day.
Housing problems have far-reaching consequences. The high cost of housing
leaves low-income families little money for other basic necessities like food,
clothing or health care. Substandard housing can endanger the health and safety
of its occupants, erode their hope and self-worth, and impair their children's
ability to succeed in school.
Habitat for Humanity is changing lives. Working in partnership with
low-income families to build decent homes they can afford to buy, Habitat helps
to break the cycle of poverty and hopelessness. To date, more than 1.5
million people worldwide live in decent, affordable Habitat for Humanity
houses.