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Agape * Blood Drive * Katrina Committee * Nolan Street Bridge Project
What is Habitat for Humanity of San Antonio’s history? Habitat for Humanity
of San Antonio (HFHSA) is an ecumenical Christian non-profit organization
whose mission is to eliminate poverty housing in San Antonio through
building simple, decent, affordable houses in partnership with God’s
people in need. Built almost entirely with volunteer labor, Habitat
houses are sold to low-income families at no interest and no profit.
Founded in 1976 and distinguished as the first U.S. affiliate of Habitat
for Humanity International, HFHSA celebrates its twenty-eighth year
of service this year to the San Antonio community. Habitat is not
a charity or a “hand-out” program but instead effectively
empowers families, lifting them out of the hopelessness of poverty
and substandard, unsafe housing. Each Habitat homeowner in San Antonio
contributes at least 300 hours of “sweat equity” to build
their own house and those of their neighbors. Families are accepted
into the Habitat program based on their need, ability to pay a 0%
interest mortgage, and their willingness to partner with Habitat to
build solid communities. Habitat homes are sold at no profit to homeowners
who pay an affordable monthly mortgage payment of approximately $350-$400. Our mission is
to eliminate poverty housing in San Antonio and across the world.
We do this by building simple, decent and affordable houses in partnership
with very-low and low-income families (25-50% of HUD Area Median Income).
In 2004, HFHSA built 55 houses in partnership with low-income families
in San Antonio. As of December 2004, we have built 398 homes in San
Antonio with families in need. HFHSA serves the
San Antonio area. Habitat houses usually are built in communities
where low-cost land is available and our families have expressed interest
in living. Habitat serves very low-income families whose income is
less than 50% of the Area Median Income. We build in areas that have
adequate resources for our homeowners. Some of these nearby resources
include bus lines, retail and business, and community and social service
organizations. The population of our service area is approximately
1,401,400. The settings in which we build our Habitat houses are traditionally
urban and suburban neighborhoods. As of December
2004, HFHSA has completed the new construction of 398 affordable houses
in San Antonio. This represents over $10 million worth of property
added to local tax rolls. HFHSA does construction
Wednesday through Saturday from 8:00am to 3:00pm. Volunteers do not
need to have special experience to work on a construction site, but
it is always helpful. Our homes are built on several different build
schedules. The 7-day build
is designed to be constructed every Saturday for a total of 7 days
of volunteer construction. |
Habitat
for Humanity
What
is Habitat for Humanity of San Antonio’s target area?