Cost of Home, launched in 2019, was a five-year advocacy campaign through which local and state Habitat for Humanity organizations, partners, volunteers and community members across the United States worked together so that millions of people have access to an affordable home.
The Urban Institute recently examined Cost of Home policy successes and noted the transformation the campaign has led. Check out our impact page to read the Urban Institute’s research report, explore a searchable database of all policy changes, use interactive maps to sort policy changes by focus areas and geographies, and read about strategies to support policy change.
Why Cost of Home?
Families all across the United States are paying too high a price to cover the cost of home.
At Habitat, we know that a family should never have to spend more than 30% of their income on a home. Yet, 20.3 million households — nearly 1 in 6 — paid more than half their income on housing in 2021.
Everywhere you look — cities, suburbs, rural areas — the stability that home should bring remains out of reach for far too many families.
That is unacceptable.
Advocating for equitable land use across the U.S.
Habitat affiliates have successfully reshaped discriminatory land and zoning policies to create more affordable homes and more equitable opportunities in their communities. Watch our video to learn how Habitat works on housing advocacy every day to drive equity.
We know the complexities that surround the cost of home. We also know the struggle, stress and pain of far too many families in our communities. Families who have suffered from redlining, racial inequality and the housing disparities that follow.
Families who have worked hard and still come up short, not because of their own efforts, but because of systemic issues and an inequitable economy. And we know that those with the fewest resources are always the ones who are forced to make the hardest choices.
Everyone deserves to build the foundation for a stable, healthy future for themselves and their families — no matter who they are, where they live or how much money they earn.
Through our five-year Cost of Home campaign, we mobilized our local and state Habitat organizations, our partners, our volunteers and community members across the country to find the solutions and help create the policies that will allow millions of people to meet their most basic needs.
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