Take action

In addition to building homes in partnership with families in need, Habitat for Humanity advocates for policies and legislation that will give even more families an opportunity to live in safe, decent and affordable homes. We need you to join us by taking action. Contacting your elected officials is one of the most effective ways to make your voice heard.

Why should I take action?
Elected officials listen to the priorities of those they represent. By telling your members of Congress that you think affordable housing is important, or that you’d like them to support a specific piece of legislation, you can help create change and place more families into homes.

Ways that you can take action today:
Support a national housing trust fund!
In parts of the country, state and local housing trust funds have helped revitalize communities and lift people out of poverty. Still, millions of Americans live in dilapidated and inadequate housing. But locally appropriate housing solutions can be realized through a national housing trust fund that would help stimulate the economy, create more jobs and enable Habitat to build more homes with families in need. Act now and tell Congress that our country needs a national housing trust fund!

Urge Congress to restore funding to Section 4!
Recently, the administration eliminated Section 4 from its FY2009 budget request to Congress. What’s Section 4? The HUD Section 4 Capacity Building and Affordable Housing program gives communities nationwide the tools to become more desirable and productive places to call home. Habitat has already built more than 9,000 homes with the support of Section 4 grants but, without this funding, future Habitat homes are in jeopardy.

Give women the right to own a home
Women do 66 percent of the world’s work, but own less than 15 percent of the world’s property. In many places, women cannot own or inherit property. This makes women more vulnerable to poverty, violence and HIV/AIDS.
If we are going to make progress toward ending global poverty, we have to start with women.
The bipartisan Global Resources and Opportunity for Women to Thrive Act, if passed, would be a giant step forward. As this critical legislation moves through Congress, please voice your support today!

Help Habitat for Humanity keep its AmeriCorps members
For more than a decade, volunteers from the Corporation for National and Community Service have partnered with Habitat for Humanity and its affiliates to build affordable housing for thousands of partner families. In the last year alone, they helped Habitat build approximately 1,900 homes.
Now those programs face steep funding cuts in the president’s 2009 budget proposal to Congress. Habitat and its affiliates rely on these programs for volunteers and financial assistance to help us serve families in need.

Ask your members of Congress to support the Global Poverty Act
Ask your member of Congress to co-sponsor the Global Poverty Act (HR 1302). This important legislation would require the U.S. government to implement a poverty reduction strategy and to report to Congress on its progress on an annual basis. By asking Congress to co-sponsor the Global Poverty Act, you will be taking a crucial step to help improve the lives of the 1 billion people who live in slum conditions worldwide.