Frequently Asked Questions

What is Habitat for Humanity International?
It is a nonprofit Christian housing ministry that works both to eliminate poverty housing around the world and to make adequate housing a matter of conscience and action. People from all walks of life are invited to work in partnership to help build houses with people in need. To date, Habitat has built more than 100,000 houses around the world, providing some 500,000 people in more than 2,000 communities with safe, adequate and affordable houses.

Why is building adequate shelter important?
The need for decent housing in the United States and around the world is staggering. An estimated 25 percent of the world’s population—more than a billion people—live in poor housing or have no home at all. Families are trapped in a daily struggle to survive amid substandard, often inhuman, living conditions. Habitat is dedicated to the ideal that all people deserve a simple, decent place to live on terms they can afford to pay.

Does Habitat for Humanity only work in the United States?
The organization started in the United States in 1976, but today, its work reaches around the world. Currently, more than 2,000 affiliates are in all 50 states of the United States, the District of Columbia, the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico, the Territory of Guam and 75 other countries around the world.

Does Habitat for Humanity give houses to poor people?
Habitat houses are not given to anyone. Rather, the organization builds houses in partnership with people living in poverty, and then sells the house to the homeowner partner. Because of Habitat’s no-profit, no-interest loans, and because the houses are principally built with volunteer labor, mortgage payments are affordable for low-income partners.

Does Habitat for Humanity only build for minorities?
Habitat builds houses with qualifying partners without regard to race. The U.S. Fair Housing Act of 1968 prohibits denying anyone housing on the basis of race, sex, creed, marital status, color or national origin. The HFHI covenant signed and agreed to by all U.S. and international affiliates further specifies that homeowners are selected “according to criteria that do not discriminate on the basis of race, creed or ethnic background.”

Did former U.S. President Jimmy Carter start Habitat for Humanity?
Habitat for Humanity International was started in Americus, Ga., in 1976, by Millard Fuller, along with his wife, Linda. Former U.S. President Jimmy Carter and his wife, Rosalynn (whose home in Plains is just eight miles from Americus), are longtime Habitat supporters and volunteers. They have led the Jimmy Carter Work Project annually since 1984.

Do you have to be a Christian to be a Habitat homeowner?
While Habitat for Humanity is a Christian organization, homeowners are chosen without regard to creed, both in keeping with the requirements of law and Habitat’s belief that God’s love extends to all—regardless of race, creed, gender or nationality.

What does a Habitat house cost?
Throughout the world, the cost of houses varies from as little as a few thousand dollars in some developing countries to an average of $46,000 in the United States. Habitat houses are affordable for low-income homeowner partners because there is no profit included in the sale price and no interest charged on the mortgage.

How are partner homeowners selected?
People needing adequate housing apply to their local Habitat affiliate. Future homeowner partners are selected by the affiliate based on need, willingness to partner with Habitat, and ability to repay a no-interest mortgage.




Reprinted from Habitat World Magazine, February/March 2001.
This article may not be reproduced in any form without permission.
©2001 Habitat for Humanity International