MISSION AND HISTORY

Habitat for Humanity in Wayne County, Inc. is a nonprofit Christian ministry. We are in service to God and people of all faiths, and all walks of life to help meet the long term need of having affordable housing available to low income families. We were officially accepted as an affiliate of Habitat for Humanity International in 1986.

Habitat for Humanity International was founded in 1976 by Millard and Linda Fuller in Americus, Georgia. It is now operating in over 1500 North American cities and more than 75 countries worldwide. While over 800,000 homes have been built by Habitat around the world, here locally our affiliate is quickly nearing its 70th home. We are excited by our continued growth, as well as the growing support of our communities who share our mission of eliminating substandard housing.

The homes we build are sold to the partner families based upon appraised market value. The families then repay a first mortgage in the approximate amount of $60,000.00. The monthly mortgage payments are tailored to fit the families' income. And though the homes are simple and decent they are almost always a great improvement from the housing they once occupied.
We rely heavily on volunteers in the construction of the houses to keep the building costs low. The volunteers, who provide us and our families with their time and talents, gain so much from seeing their labor rewarded with helping to provide a family with a home. The partner families gain not just from the time spent with their fellowmen as they complete the required 300 hours of sweat equity per household adult, but also as they successfully complete classroom requirements and financial counseling. Our affiliate strongly supports providing all the "tools" necessary to make sure the families are prepared to handle the expense and responsibility of owning a home.