How we feel about home
For 40 years, you have helped families partner with Habitat to build and improve places they can call home.
Strength, increased stability and a deeper sense of self-reliance are the outcomes of that work for families around the world. So are friendships, new perspectives and a wonderful sense of gratitude from everyone who helps build.
Hear more from these Habitat homeowners and volunteers through the years.
“Love isn’t confined to words or pretty things. It’s action.”— the Rev. Samuel Emerick, Habitat’s first board chair
“I’ve called my house ‘the house that love built’ since I first moved in. Little did any of us know that it would grow in love and abundance to the extent that it is has. My home is now affecting the generation before me and the generation after me — and who knows how many generations to come!”— Stephanie, Transylvania Habitat homeowner
“Our philosophy is to partner with families to give them a chance to move out of poverty, to gain assets and to give their children a chance to have a healthy environment in which to grow.”— Jonathan Reckford, Habitat CEO
“This house has given us freedom. We have learned to organize the neighborhood, to take care of our homes and apply for infrastructure improvements. We’ve already brought streetlights to the community, and soon we will have public water fountains. Within my family, we have also organized ourselves better to work and to save.”— Willma, Habitat Bolivia homeowner
“We’re not only building houses, but also building relationships.”— Ruth Pendergrast, Habitat volunteer
“We were brought to a place of our common humanity. Our eyes carried the same glow that we witnessed on the homeowners’ faces. Little did we know how much we needed one another. Little did we know that in giving our hearts away, we would find ourselves in the process.”— Samantha Schroeder, Habitat volunteer
“I visualize the kids that are going to live in this house. You see a room — it’s only walls, but it’s not walls. It’s a house. It’s giving a chance to these kids to grow up the way I didn’t have a chance. I’m proud to know that I can be a part of something like this, to give back what I’ve been given.”— Johnny Gallo, Habitat volunteer
“Now, I can actually plan a future, because I have stability. I can plan for the future of my children, and they can plan, too.”— Catherine, Habitat Muskoka homeowner
“Always when I prayed, I would say, ‘Oh, God, let me meet such people as can help me.’ As a result, he sent me Habitat. And I am so grateful.”— Unziyamoh, Habitat Tajikistan homeowner
“Thank you for giving me the opportunity to change my life for the better. I have realized that wherever you are, we share the same love. And this is the greatest thing in the world.”— Aphiwat, Habitat Thailand homeowner