When Cyclone Freddy swept through southern Malawi in March 2023, entire communities were left without homes and livelihoods, and many lives were lost. The torrential rains triggered devastating floods and landslides, destroying homes and displacing thousands of families overnight. Their story is a reminder that recovery after disaster often begins with a home – opening the door to resilience for families and communities alike.
Europe Housing Day is Habitat for Humanity’s annual event focused on the future of housing in Europe. This year, we will explore how to unlock EU funding and private finance in the next MFF to help make housing more affordable, how to reduce energy poverty through energy-efficient apartment buildings, and what role vacant buildings can play in improving affordability and scaling up housing supply. Join us!
In many parts of the world, the word home evokes safety. But for millions of families living in substandard housing, home is where some of the greatest health risks begin. From respiratory diseases to heat-related illnesses and vector‑borne illnesses like malaria, unsafe housing conditions expose low‑income families to dangers that no one should have to endure.
This World Malaria Day, Habitat for Humanity recognizes the life‑saving power of healthy housing, because preventing malaria requires a holistic approach, where mainstream tools like nets and medicine work hand in hand with strong walls, secure roofs, good ventilation and the dignity of a home that protects the people who live in it.
This year, Mihaela moved into her new house, a home that she helped build alongside volunteers during Habitat for Humanity Romania’s Hope Build, a unique volunteer house-building event. In just five days in June 2024, volunteers from companies and the community came together for a so-called Hope Build. This project changed the lives of two households forever. One of these families is the Albisteanu family, led by a mother whose strength and resilience have carried her family through years of hardship, Mihaela Albisteanu. “I can’t believe it! The children will have their own space, just for them.”
Mihaela’s excitement rings out as she shares her feelings in a video from the build.
A home is where you spend Christmas, where you sleep through the night without cold air slipping in through broken windows. A home is where homework happens at the kitchen table, where families can cook, rest, feel safe, and dream together.
Without decent housing, everything becomes harder. Health, education, stability, and even relationships suffer. That is why Hope Builds in Romania, unique volunteer house-building events, are so important.
Over the past year, Habitat for Humanity worked alongside volunteers who contributed nearly 42,000 hours’ worth of time, skills and energy to improve housing conditions in communities across Africa. Today, we highlight how volunteering continues to shape individuals, strengthen community connections, and inspire long-term civic engagement.
Volunteering has a unique power to build team spirit, create shared memories, and fill people with a real sense of accomplishment. It pulls us away from screens and routines and places us into something deeply human, working side by side, learning from one another, and becoming a community.
This same power has been visible across Romania over the past three years. From 2023 to 2025, Habitat for Humanity Romania organized six Hope Builds, bringing people together from Romania and beyond. These volunteer construction events unite teams, strangers, colleagues, and friends to build homes for families facing difficult socioeconomic and family situations.
At Habitat for Humanity, volunteering takes on many shapes. Not every volunteer may swing a hammer, but every volunteer helps move us closer to a world where everyone has a decent place to live.
In just the first half of 2025, more than 3,300 people volunteered with Habitat for Humanity across Europe and the Middle East. Some helped build homes in Romania, Kenya, and Malawi. Others organized charity dinners in Poland, sorted donated goods in Irish ReStores, ran upcycling workshops in Great Britain, or supported communications and events in Jordan and Egypt. No two roles are alike. There is something for everyone who is willing to help.
Across Africa and the Global South, climate change is transforming the way communities move, settle, and survive. Droughts, floods, and environmental degradation are pushing families from rural areas into cities at unprecedented rates — and urban informal settlements are absorbing the shock.
In November, Habitat for Humanity contributed to critical conversations shaping the future of climate migration, urban resilience, and community-driven adaptation.
Habitat for Humanity is committed to gender equality and sees it as fundamental for dignity, safety and a modern, inclusive society. Because gender roles are still shaped by social, historical, political and economic inequalities, we pay specific attention to keeping gender equality at the core of our work.