Who We Help

and Having Shelter or Buying Food

Thanks to your donations and volunteer support, Habitat for Humanity is able to help people living below the poverty line in financially vulnerable situations, who are able to repay an interest-free mortgage and qualify to become a partner family with Habitat for Humanity.

The hardworking families that you support through Habitat for Humanity are caught in a vicious cycle of making ‘too much' at low-paying jobs to take advantage of assistance programs, such as subsidized housing. But they make ‘too little' to provide all their family needs. Many are forced to make impossible choices – providing shelter or having food, and paying rent or utility bills. We illustrate this problem in our award-winning PSAs – please click here to view our PSAs.

These families cannot save to improve their situation, and so they cannot get ahead. Bank account balances are non-existent, as every cent of their income is used to cover living expenses. With rent taking as much as 70% of many families' income, there is no disposable income to rely on should something unexpected arise, such as their children outgrowing winter coats or boots. There is no safety net and putting money away for essentials, such as clothing and school supplies, let alone a mortgage down payment, is considered an impossible dream.

A Budgetary Example of How Hardworking Families in Canada Cannot Escape

the Vicious Cycle of Poverty

Here's a sample budget which illustrates this problem:

Monthly income/costs	Family of Four (minimum wage earner) before Habitat*	Family of Four^ (minimum wage earner) after Habitat
Monthly income	$1,822	$1,822
Shelter/Utilities	$1,370	$650
Telephone	$34	$34
Food costs	$592	$592
Balance left over	-$174	$546

*SOURCE: 2008 HOUSING IS FUNDAMENTAL – AHAC; NUTRITION MATTERS, July 2007, PETERBOUROUGH COUNTY – CITY HEALTH UNIT.
^Our typical Habitat partner family is a household of four.

A Habitat home helps families avoid making impossible choices between rent and other basic necessities.

A mortgage they can afford allows them to provide other family needs, such as childcare, transportation, groceries, education, school supplies, medical and dental expenses, clothing, furniture, and more.

Criteria for Choosing Partner Family Homeowners

All prospective partner family homeowners are chosen based on three criteria:

the applicants' level of need
their willingness to become partners in the program, and
their ability to repay the no-profit, no-interest loan.

Future homeowners put in hundreds of hours of sweat equity, share the labour of homebuilding, and participate in valuable training and preparation sessions. In return, their lives are transformed by the positive experience of working with their community in building their home, and the many benefits that come from owning their own home.

Why Habitat Needs Your Financial Support

While some supplies are donated, there are many other items that need to be purchased before a home is ready for a family:

Land on which to build the homes
The hiring of licensed trades people to ensure all homes built meet industry safety codes
Any building materials and supplies that are not donated

If you'd like to make a donation, please click here.

Thanks for all your support – time, materials and donations!