our case for support

Unwavering support from donors and volunteers has made Habitat for Humanity a leader among nonprofit organizations.

Since our founding in 1976, Habitat has helped more than 9.8 million people obtain a safer place to sleep at night, along with the strength, stability and self-reliance they need to build better lives.

But it’s not enough. We need your support to build our impact. And with your help, we know we can do more.

Here’s how.

Our work in more than 70 countries and in nearly 1,400 communities throughout the United States helps transform lives and communities through housing.

With the help of more than 1.8 million volunteers each year, Habitat serves a family somewhere around the world every 50 seconds.

• Top 20 of Philanthropy 400.

• No. 1 private homebuilder in the U.S. on Builder 100.

• Recipient of Overseas Private Investment Corporation’s “Access to Finance” award for MicroBuild Fund.

• Brand of the year in the social services nonprofit category based on the 2016 Harris Poll EquiTrend Equity Score. Also named “Most Loved” and “Most Trusted” brand within our category in 2016.

In 2016, we launched Habitat Humanitarians to recognize the invaluable contributions of our high-profile volunteers. This generous group serves as mission champions, advocates and spokespeople to raise awareness of the need for decent, affordable shelter in the U.S. and around the world.

Our inaugural Habitat Humanitarians are former President Jimmy Carter, former first lady Rosalynn Carter and country music stars Garth Brooks and Trisha Yearwood.

Garth and Trisha were inspired by the Carters to make their own lifetime pledge to volunteer:

➜ 1 in 4 people in the world need decent housing.

➜ 40 percent of the world’s population will need new housing and basic infrastructure in the next 14 years, according to the World Bank Group.

➜ More than 80 percent of the world’s population does not have legal documentation of their property rights.

➜ The World Health Organization says those living in poor conditions “are exposed to greater personal and environmental health risks, are less well-nourished, have less information and are less able to access health care, thus they have a higher risk of illness and disability.”

➜ The United Nations has estimated that more than 10 million people worldwide die each year from conditions related to substandard housing.

➜ The U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development says “a family with one full-time worker earning the minimum wage cannot afford the local fair-market rent for a two-bedroom apartment anywhere in the United States.”

Driven by the vision that everyone needs a decent place to live, Habitat has partnered with families for more than 40 years to build and improve places they can call home.

Our work focuses on increasing access to homeownership and housing finance, improving housing affordability and quality, helping communities prepare for and respond to natural disasters, and building strong and resilient neighborhoods.

New construction where our houses and work processes are designed for their specific local settings and use locally available materials.

Improvement and repair of existing houses. In the U.S., this work is done as part of our neighborhood revitalization efforts. Outside the U.S., we help families build incrementally and help create access to housing microfinance loans.

Advocacy, which advances access to adequate and affordable housing globally through changing policy and systems and includes a global campaign called Solid Ground that aims to change land policy around the world to increase land access for shelter.

Each family invests their time and effort building their own home and the homes of others. This sweat equity can take many forms — from construction to working in a Habitat ReStore — and includes homeowner classes where families learn about their mortgage, insurance, maintenance, safety and more.

Each year, Habitat mobilizes 1.8 million volunteers to build, advocate, and raise awareness about the worldwide need for shelter.

Habitat is a global community, with partners from all walks of life who lift their hands, hearts and voices to move our life-changing forward worldwide. Volunteers, donors and families together increase our impact.

A decent place to live can remove barriers to opportunity, success and health that might have been a part of a family’s life for years, if not generations.

Better, affordable living conditions lead to improved health, stronger childhood development and give families the ability — and financial flexibility — to make forward-looking choices. Proper shelter creates jobs, revitalizes neighborhoods, attracts employers, increases consumer spending and government revenues, and lowers the risk of foreclosure, all while bringing transformative benefits to families and developing resiliency in communities.

➜ Every dollar invested in Habitat Canada returns $4 of benefits to Canadian society, according to a study by the Boston Consulting Group.

➜ In Latin America and the Caribbean, 44.9 percent of people completing Habitat’s financial education workshops report that they immediately began saving for their futures.

➜ Habitat’s MicroBuild Fund has attracted $90 million of capital to the financial sector serving low-income populations and has provided access to better housing for more than 272,000 people in 20 countries.

➜ Cost-benefit analysis indicates that the 2,200 Habitat homeowners in Minnesota could be using anywhere from $6 million to $9 million less in government assistance annually.

➜ Habitat Charlotte and its homeowners have an estimated yearly economic impact on the community of $36 million.

➜ Dallas Area Habitat homeowners pay about $2 million in property taxes each year.

➜ 90 percent of surveyed Habitat homeowners in 44 U.S. cities said they could not have owned a home without help from Habitat.

➜ 74 percent of surveyed U.S. Habitat homeowners say their health has improved since moving into their homes.

➜ Families living in the more than 5,000 homes built by Habitat India in the rural interior of Maharashtra have reported a higher standard of living and lower medical bills, thanks to less exposure to weather, insects and predators.

➜ 95 percent of Habitat Cambodia homeowners report reduced stress, and 86 percent report that their children were now able to study at home. 69 percent of families report increased income, with 123 families starting their own microbusinesses.

➜ 57 percent of adults in surveyed U.S. Habitat households are furthering their education.

➜ Thanks to solar shingles, one Habitat Houston homeowner's electricity bill was reduced to $39 per month. She previously lived in an apartment where her monthly bill often reached $300.

➜ 800,000 families in Pernambuco, Brazil could benefit from the State Policy on Prevention and Mediation of Urban Land Conflicts that Habitat helped pass in 2015. The public policy provides vulnerable populations with secure land tenure and property rights.

➜ A Habitat project partnering with Roma families in Slovakia to improve their living conditions identified that there had been “significant improvement in the health of the community through the provision of safe, clean drinking water.”

➜ A survey of Habitat homeowners in Sacramento revealed that 48 percent of families feel more connected to their community.

➜ The U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development says studies show that “homeowners accumulate wealth as the investment in their home grows, enjoy better living conditions, are often more involved in their communities, and have children who tend on average to do better in school and are less likely to become involved with crime.”

Habitat’s strategic plan supplies the framework for exponentially expanding our worldwide impact so that we can partner with more families to build or improve places to call home.

Our Global Impact Fund supplies the flexible funding for that expansion, which enables us to build impact at the community, sector and societal levels.

➜ Leveraging resources to respond to the world’s housing need.

➜ Building the capacity of our global network.

➜ Investing wisely to sustain our programs through tough economic times.

➜ Designing innovative programs that reach ever-growing numbers of families.

➜ Practicing good stewardship in order to increase our efficiency and ensure the trust of our generous donors.

Find out more about how you can help support the work of Habitat for Humanity.