Becoming a Partner Family
Are you interested in owning a Habitat home?
The following information will provide you with an understanding of how to qualify and apply for homeownership through South Puget Sound Habitat for Humanity. Qualified families who are selected become partners with Habitat in building their home and in supporting the mission of South Puget Sound Habitat for Humanity.
Before you can apply for a home you must attend a homeowner orientation. This is a time to make sure Habitat and all applicants are on the same page. Please call the office to be placed on the notification list.
Are you eligible to apply?
To be eligible to apply, a family must demonstrate that they have:
- a critical housing need (housing they live in is in poor repair, too small for their family, beyond their means, in a neighborhood not conducive to raising children, etc.),
- a steady income and the ability to make regular monthly mortgage payments, and
- the willingness to participate in Habitat's building and community outreach activities.
If your family meets these criteria, and if South Puget Sound Habitat for Humanity is currently recruiting partner families, you are eligible to apply. Please be aware that South Puget Sound Habitat for Humanity does not maintain a waiting list, so completing an application may not immediately result in action if we do not currently have resources to build a home that meets the needs of your family.
What if you don’t have an entire family to house? What if it’s just you?
Habitat for Humanity welcomes "families of one."
How do you apply?
In order to submit an application, prospective homeowners must first attend an information orientation session. Please contact the office to register for the sessions. Remember you must attend an applicants orientation prior to submitting an application.
Be sure to complete the entire application, and sign it before sending it in. Answer the questions as accurately and completely as you can because we need this information to determine your eligibility for the Habitat program. It is essential that you supply addresses and phone numbers. At the orientation session you will learn about a great deal of verification paperwork that must be submitted with the application. We cannot accept incomplete applications. Intentional false information on the application will result in automatic disqualification for selection. All information will be kept confidential.
Habitat will respond in writing to all applicants. Please submit your application to:
South Puget Sound Habitat for Humanity
210 Thurston Avenue NE
Olympia WA 98501
(360) 956-3456
What happens next?
If South Puget Sound Habitat for Humanity currently has the means to build a home for you, the affiliate's Partnership Committee will review your application and evaluate your eligibility. They will meet with you, visit your home, follow up on the information provided in your application and examine your credit history to determine whether you are a suitable candidate for the Habitat program.
If the Family Selection Committee determines that you are, indeed, eligible to become a partner family and Habitat is able to build a home to meet your needs, the committee will forward your application to the affiliate's Board of Directors with a recommendation for approval. If the Board agrees, you become a partner family.
What does it mean to be a partner family?
A partner family works with and on behalf of Habitat to construct their own home. Each partner family, in conjunction with friends and family, is required to provide 500 hours of labor in the construction of their home or in other service to Habitat. That labor becomes their down payment (something we call "sweat equity"). The balance of labor is provided by other volunteers, but we find that most partner families, once they get the taste of home construction, put in additional hours on their home, help other families build their own Habitat homes, or continue serving Habitat in some way.
When the partner family's home is complete, they purchase their home at cost from Habitat with a 25-year, no-interest loan that Habitat carries.
Is that the whole of it?
Habitat believes that the road to self-sufficiency requires more than four walls and a roof. It requires the attentive support of others who have successfully purchased and maintained a home of their own to serve as mentors for our partner families. Each partner family is assigned a "sponsor," who will assist them in learning how to be home owners. The sponsor is assigned soon after the application is accepted so that they can mentor the partner family from start to finish and beyond. Many sponsors and partner families become lifelong friends.