We know that affordable homeownership can transform a life, shape a community, and change the world. We do more than believe in change. We build it.
As housing availability shrinks and costs rise, families with limited incomes face housing instability and become at risk for falling into a cycle of poverty.
Start with home. The rest will follow.
Homeownership offers the stability families need to build self-reliance and a strong foundation for future success. Homeowners are able to escape the anxiety of rent hikes and eviction threats, investing in themselves and creating a legacy for their families. Homeownership gives families with limited incomes the opportunity to break the cycle of poverty.
Homeownership is correlated with a host of positive success indicators:
Dr. Megan Sandel of Boston University School of Medicine puts it in stark terms: “A safe, decent, affordable home is like a vaccine. It literally prevents disease.” Indeed, for many Habitat homeowners, their Habitat home is a radical departure from their previously overcrowded, hazardous, or substandard housing.
Studies have shown that stable, affordable housing is closely tied to health:
In a challenging and unstable housing environment, families with limited incomes are often the most vulnerable to the whims of the market. These hardworking families face a daily, monthly struggle to meet their housing costs, while contending with a fear that an eviction, a rent hike, or simply an unanticipated expense will mean displacement.
For families like these, a stable, affordable place to call home means:
Homeowners have a refuge from the whims of an unpredictable rental market. As homeowners move less frequently than renters, they have the opportunity to become more deeply integrated into the fabric of a community. Homeownership lends greater stability to a neighborhood. Homeowners are more likely not only to build strong, stable lives for their own families, but for their communities as well.
Homeownership has strong connections to community:
Our model is a unique, sustainable way to combat the Bay Area’s affordable housing crisis.
We are making change for generations to come.
We invest in people. We empower people – hardworking people with limited incomes – to invest in themselves. Habitat homeowners purchase their homes through a nonprofit mortgage and receive financial counseling to ensure they are prepared for successful homeownership. Through a range of innovative, sustainable, solution-oriented programs, we make affordable homeownership a reality for more people.
Generates $20 in our Economy
EIN or Federal Tax ID #: 94-3053687
Habitat for Humanity East Bay / Silicon Valley is a 501(c)(3) not-for-profit organization
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