Who Builds South Puget Sound Habitat for Humanity Homes?
We know who builds a Habitat home: you do alongside the family who’ll be living there and with a whole bunch of help from community volunteers and Habitat staff.
But, what does a Habitat home build? Let’s take a look.
Habitat Builds Affordable Housing
When money is tight, everything costs more, which is why it’s difficult for low income families to get ahead. So, we make sure our owner-occupied homes are affordable.
Habitat Builds Family Stability
Did you know that children of homeowners are more likely to graduate high school and go on to college than the children of renters? Stability creates resilience. A solid home is the first building block of a strong neighborhood and a thriving community. Our families stay in their homes an average of 9 years! That’s longer than middle-income families generally own their homes.
Habitat Builds New Affordable Housing
Substandard housing is a normal part of life for very low-income families who rent. Old carpets, lack of clean heat, mold and poor air quality does not help the health of a low-income family, especially children. A Habitat home is brand new, with 2×6 R30 walls, ADA throughout with in-house fire suppression. Energy Star rated and utilizing best-practices in the field (low-impact development, highly energy-efficient, infill, maximizing open space) our homes are built on walkable streets, near schools, parks, mass transit and shopping. Hand crafted by a community of caring, we couldn’t be prouder of the high-quality homes we build for our families.
Habitat Builds Financial Independence
Homeownership creates wealth and often represents the primary savings mechanism for a family, which is great because it’s a savings account and a house at the same time. But, most very low-income families don’t get to participate in this because they can’t find an affordable home, even though both parents may work. So, we make it affordable by building an affordable home from the ground up – starting with our community design and including our choice of building materials. With an affordable home, a family can save and build wealth by simply paying their mortgage. That’s how you end intergenerational poverty.
Habitat Reinforces Personal and Community Responsibility
Habitat families give back- it’s part of the program- whether it’s helping to build your own home, being an active part of a neighborhood association or volunteering at a non-profit. But, did you know that our families also give back by paying their mortgage? Each mortgage payment Habitat receives goes toward building the next house, so the gift of community keeps on giving. And, our families also pay property taxes, in 2015 Habitat households paid over $80,000 in taxes to Thurston County. What you give to Habitat our families give back by creating strong families, stable neighborhoods, a solid tax base and a community that takes pride in ownership.
Helping families help themselves helps everybody.