Habitat For Humanity of Island County

Habitat for Humanity is about transformation. We transform the lives of families in need of shelter. We transform the hearts of those who help provide it. We transform entire communities because proper housing promotes healthy families and secure and stable communities.

The cascading effects are far-reaching and transformational.

Education
Homeownership leads to better test scores and higher rates of high school graduation and college attendance. Children of low-income homeowners are 11 percent more likely to graduate from high-school and are 4.5 percent more likely to complete post-secondary education than children of low-income renters.

Health
Improving housing quality improves general health status, respiratory health and mental health and reduces the risk of injury. Homeowners have a significant health advantage over renters, on average. Homeowners are 2.5 percent more likely to have good health. When adjusting for an array of demographic, socioeconomic and housing–related characteristics, the homeowner advantage is even larger, at 3.1 percent.

Wealth Building
Low-income homeowners with sustained ownership and affordable loans have higher wealth accumulations than comparable renters.
U.S. homeowners have an average net wealth that is 400% higher than that of renters with similar demographics and earnings.

Preservation and Partnerships
One of the ways Habitat ensures availability of affordable housing is by helping to preserve and repair homes of by low- and moderate-income homeowners. We recognize that there are many homeowners currently living in unsafe homes that do not meet their needs. The results can be catastrophic for someone without heat in the winter or whose entry steps are rotted and unsafe. Seniors on a fixed income are particularly vulnerable when something goes wrong in their home.

The Island County Habitat Critical Repair program has helped dozens of homeowners remain safely in their homes by providing necessary repairs. With the help of volunteers and the generosity of donors and local businesses, ramps are installed, windows replaced, heating is repaired, and safety and peace of mind are restored.

Veterans Build
Veterans Build is Habitat for Humanity's national initiative to provide housing solutions and volunteer and employment opportunities to U.S. veterans, military service members and their families.

Homebuyer Qualification
As active participants in building a better future for themselves
and their families, qualified Habitat homebuyers meet
the same basic requirements...

NEED
Potenital homeowners must show that they have a current need for improved
housing. This need can be demonstrated by a lack of space/overcrowding,
current rent that is more than fifty percent of the family’s monthly income, unsafe
living conditions, a dangerous environment, lack of or problems with major
utilities, general structural problems, or other conditions that make their current
home inadequate.

WILLINGNESS TO PARTNER
All future homeowners complete 250 hours of “sweat equity”. These hours may
be spent helping build their home, helping build another homebuyer’s home,
working in the Habitat Store, volunteering in our administrative office, or helping
with events and special projects.

ABILITY TO PAY A MORTGAGE
Habitat homebuyers purchase their homes with an affordable mortgage that
does not exceed thirty percent of the family’s monthly income. Applicants must
have a steady source of income and demonstrate financial responsibility —
generally determined by credit history.
Potential homebuyers should be earning between thirty and eighty percent of
Island County’s Average Median Income (AMI) based on family size.