The following talking points can be coupled with local statistics and facts to create awareness this World Habitat Day. Or they may be used as part of your door display or parade activities. 

• Today, 1.6 billion people live in inadequate shelter around the world; 1 billion of those live in slums. 

• About one in four people live in conditions that harm their health, safety, prosperity and opportunities. 

• By 2030, UN-HABITAT estimates an additional 3 billion people, about 40 percent of the world’s population, will need access to housing. This translates into a demand for 96,150 new affordable units every day and 4,000 every hour. 

• By 2050, 70 percent of the world’s population is projected to be living in urban areas, causing slums and unplanned settlements to swell. 

• Adequate shelter is a critical foundation for breaking the cycle of poverty. 

• Every 5 1/2 minutes, Habitat serves a family in need of better housing. 

• Habitat has helped more than 3 million people since our founding in 1976. 

• If we are to succeed in the fight against poverty housing, we must support the expansion of housing both as policy and as practice. 

• On World Habitat Day, the first Monday of October, Habitat for Humanity joins the United Nations and organizations around the world in raising awareness, educating and mobilizing individuals and communities to take action on the current global housing crisis. 

• Adequate housing is vitally important to the health of the world’s economies, communities and populations. 

• Home ownership is a form of wealth accumulation through equity and forced savings from mortgage repayment. 

• Good housing attracts economic investment and development. 

• Decent shelter contributes to thriving school systems, community organizations and civic activism. 

• Safe homes and neighborhoods help to build social stability and security. 

• Estimates of homelessness in the United States vary from 1.6 million to 3 million people. Most studies conclude that about one-third of the homeless are children. 

• Habitat works in more than 1,500 communities in the United States, and in more than 70 countries worldwide, from Argentina to Zambia. 

• About 1 million volunteers work with Habitat every year worldwide. 

• In 2012, Habitat's U.S. affiliates tithed $13 million of their own funds to international programs, benefiting families in more than 50 countries.