Greater Albuquerque HABITAT FOR HUMANITY

Since 1987, Greater Albuquerque Habitat for Humanity has created economic opportunity by enabling low-income families to buy quality, affordable, and energy efficient housing with a no-interest loan. Habitat advocates affordable housing for all people including faith and non-faith communities. Building Habitat homes generates an integrated and involved community of volunteers, homeowners, and passionate organizations.

We serve households of Bernalillo County and Sandoval Counties, NM who earn between 30% and 70% of the median income following HUD guidelines according to family size.
The families we serve are considered “extremely low” to “very low” income by federal measures. A family with one full-time worker earning the minimum wage cannot afford the local fair-market rent for a two-bedroom apartment anywhere in the US and the lack of affordable housing is a significant hardship for these households.

In Albuquerque, an estimated 60,000 low and moderate-income families are spending more than 40% of before-tax income on housing (www.rentassistance.us/li/albuquerque_housing_authority). Paying more than 30% of a family’s budget on housing precludes such basic needs as food, clothing, transportation, and healthcare, much less saving for the future.

Through the houses Habitat builds, low-income families gain hope for a better life and break the cycle of need. To this end, we are dedicated to building community one home, one family at a time by constructing decent and energy efficient homes that we sell to families with a no-interest loan and at no profit to Habitat. Families benefit from being given a hand up—not a hand out—to better life experiences through improved living environments that promote economic self-sufficiency and upward mobility.

Volunteers provide the labor - it takes about 240 volunteers and around 3,000 volunteer hours to build a house - and donors provide money and materials to build Habitat houses. Neighborhoods benefit from families with a strong sense of community, neighborhood pride, increased property values, and upgrades within an existing, low-income neighborhood. Each new tax-paying property owner strengthens the county through generated revenue and new, civically-engaged citizens.
We also offer a repair and preservation program to existing low-income homeowners. This program is designed to assist seniors, veterans and those with physical challenges to remain in their homes. Repair and preservation provide exterior work such as gutter cleaning, tree and bush trimming, painting and fence repair, installation of ADA compliant ramps and landscaping.

A new critical repair program will offer interior home repair to large systems such as roofs, windows, HVAC, plumbing, electrical and renovations necessary to make the home safe and secure.

Habitat is also active in the Albuquerque community through the operation of the ReStore. ReStore is a retail store that sells donated new and used building materials and household items to the public. Proceeds from the sale of materials directly support Habitat's mission and help cover administrative costs. ReStore provides an environmentally and socially responsible way to keep good, reusable materials out of the landfill and offers a source of discounted, construction materials to the public. When possible, Habitat uses materials from the ReStore to reduce the cost of construction.