Ministry Spotlight: Habitat for Humanity

The Habitat for Humanity International (Habitat) concept began in 1973 as the founders, Millard and Linda Fuller worked in Zaire, now the Democratic Republic of Congo. They developed the idea of “partnership housing,” which centered on those in need of adequate shelter working side by side with volunteers to build decent, affordable houses.

New homeowners’ house payments would be combined with no-interest loans provided by supporters and money earned by fundraising to create “The Fund for Humanity,” which would then be used to build more homes.

In 1976, the founders returned to the United States and officially created Habitat as a legal entity in the U.S. Habitat works in all 50 states and in more than 70 countries. Families and individuals in need of shelter fill out an application and Habitat selects recipients based on three criteria:

1. The applicant’s level of need, which does not exceed 60% of the area median income;
2. Their willingness to partner with Habitat; and
3. Their ability to repay a mortgage through an affordable payment plan. Habitat tries to ensure an affordable mortgage does not exceed 30% of the homeowner’s gross monthly income.

Habitat then partners with them to build or improve a place they can call home.

A few of Habitat’s accomplishments for 2022:

• Habitat worked with more than 7.1 million people to provide access to new or improved housing around the world.
• Habitat says it engaged 746,000 volunteers to help build homes.
• It operated 1,055 Habitat “ReStores”—nonprofit home improvement stores and donation centers that sell new and gently used furniture, home accessories, building materials, and appliances to the public at a fraction of the retail price.
• Habitat helped more than 4,000 Ukraine refugees secure short, mid, or long-term accommodation to relocate them to Poland, Romania, Hungary, Germany, and Slovakia.
• It built water facilities in Cambodia at two primary schools, impacting 1,788 children and 380 families in the community to have direct access to proper sanitation and water.
• Habitat’s state and local advocacy efforts in the U.S. helped change or enact 617 policies favorable to those needing adequate housing.
  

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Habitat is an openly “Christian” organization, but also boasts a policy to never proselytize or work with any organization that will proselytize while doing work on their behalf.

The aim of Habitat for Humanity International is to see a world where everyone has a decent place to live by building up homes, communities, and hope.

MinistryWatch Donor Confidence Score:  61 (out of a possible 100) “Give With Caution”

MinistryWatch Financial Efficiency Rating:  1 Star (out of a possible 5 Stars)

MinistryWatch Transparency Grade:  C

ECFA Member?  No

Revenue in Most Recent Year Available (2021):  $439,439,083

Five-Year Revenue Trend:  Increasing  (by 76% change increase)

Percent of Habitat for Humanity International Spends on Fundraising:  20%

Percent Peer Group Spends on Fundraising: 6%

CEO: Jonathan Reckford

CEO’s Salary and Other Compensation:  $478,106

Complete MinistryWatch profile for Habitat for Humanity International can be found here.

Find recent MinistryWatch articles mentioning Habitat for Humanity International here.

Main photo: Mustafa, a future Habitat for Humanity homeowner, poses while working on a project in the Nashville area in August 2022. Photo courtesy of Habitat for Humanity of Greater Nashville