According to the U.S. Census Bureau, 16.7 percent (or 12.1 million) of American children live in poverty.

The Bottom Line:
It takes more than a hammer to build a house, more than a saw or tape measure to make a difference.

With more than a billion people living in substandard housing, the need for decent, affordable shelter is dire. Your support can help Habitat for Humanity respond to that need.

You can help by supporting Habitat's work inside your community... and out. In the December/January 2004 edition of Habitat World, we indicated that volunteers can contribute substantially by serving on one of several affiliate committees. Those contributions are both needed and much appreciated.

People power behind the scenes and at construction sites is important, but equally important as volunteer support is financial support to intensify Habitat's work. Habitat for Humanity relies on cash donations to purchase such necessary components as land and building materials and to cover administrative costs necessary to continue the actual construction work.

Habitat relies on a wide variety of funding sources, from the individual donor to the largest corporation--and places a premium on each and every gift. This issue of Habitat World explores some of those sources, providing insight not only into where the money comes from, but into where it goes as well.

Before tools clang on a construction site, there's much else that needs to happen first, not the least of which is dollars raised and allocated for ultimately the same outcome: more housing built with more families around the world.