A step up
A Habitat for Humanity house is a hand up, a step up for families who — many of them for the very first time — are achieving a decent, affordable place to live.
When you help us build, you help a family take important first steps toward fully realizing their potential — and their highest hopes. A sturdy, affordable home is crucial for a family forging a path out of poverty.
Housing is an important early step in the healthy growth and development of a child. In addition to affecting the physical health of a family, the quality of a home has a lasting effect on emotional and behavioral health and overall well-being.
Students in a safe, well-built home step up their math and reading skills and are twice as likely to attend college, according to this Johns Hopkins study.
The families who build and live in Habitat houses take huge strides toward financial security, many reporting more savings and an ability to start or complete higher education and job-training programs.
“This step is truly a milestone in my journey to create a comfortable and secure home life for my family,” says Our Towns Habitat homeowner Zuriyah Clary, shortly after moving in to her new home. “It’s a step I’m truly able to enjoy, as my Habitat home fills me with joy every time I step inside.”
Habitat Longview homeowner Brenda Carter is at a different step in her journey, having recently paid off her house and joyfully burned her mortgage papers. “Twenty-three years ago, I took a big scary step and became part of a new family, the Habitat family,” she says. “It was the hardest thing I ever did. The time, the sweat and all the prayers. But it was all worth it. It changed our life forever.
“Now my kids are grown, and my home is paid off. The next step for me is to make some changes, and then my mother is going to live out her days in my home. With no more payments, I am saving more money for the future.
“I just smiled and laughed the whole time that mortgage paper burned. My kids and my Habitat family cried and cheered. I cried, too, because I did it.
“I really did it.”
Because of your generous support, Habitat is able to partner with more Zuriyahs and more Brendas every day. More families who can look back with pride and accomplishment and say, “I did it!”
Help realize our shared vision of a world where everyone has a decent place to live. Step up to the challenge, and help us build!