A Look into Habitat for Humanity
The founders of Habitat for Humanity are Millard and Linda Fuller. President Jimmy Carter is often thought of being the head of this great organization but President Carter is a well-known volunteer. He works along side of countless others building houses for lower income people in an effort to eliminate poverty housing around the world.
Thought Habitat for Humanity is an international organization they have thousands of local affiliates, which raise funds to help their local communities eliminate poverty housing.
The families who go through the application process are screened to see if they are decent people who truly deserve a house and need one. By decent people, I mean they must not have a criminal past, and must have at least decent credit. They must also have the ability to pay for a house, which means a decent work history but still stay in the lower income brackets.
If they pass the application process and are chosen as the family most deserving for a habitat house they become a partner family. A partner family has a few new responsibilities associated with their house.
First, they must perform what is called sweat equity upon their home as well as other activities within the affiliate. Sweat equity is Habitat for Humanity’s term for working a set number of hours. Our local affiliate had a sweat equity minimum that my husband and I had to do. We had to work at least 500 hours either working on our own home as well as any other actives we chose to pursues within the affiliate. Our family could donate up to 200 hours in our name, but we had to do the bulk of them.
Our home was build with scores of volunteers from around our community. They all worked together to help my family have a better home. I can truly say that my house is a house that was built with the love and compassion of a whole community.
After we moved into our home we had to take on a mortgage just like any other home owner would, it is just our interest rate is much better then any mortgage through a bank. Habitat’s interest rate is better always because there is a 0 percent interest rate. That is not a typo; the entire lot of Habitat for Humanity homes has interest free mortgages.
Our home is custom made in many ways. We had to look in a book of plans and pick the one that suited us. We picked out the linoleum, carpeting, and even the siding. It truly is our own home.
Habitat for Humanity is a hand up in life and not a hand out. Habitat does not give away the homes to just anyone they must be earned.
