Capital Campaign

Habitat helps families with children access homeownership. In FY2020, 77% of the families we served through new construction had dependents. By partnering with these families to enable their goal of homeownership, Habitat can help their children attain greater educational success and improve their chances of accessing post-secondary education.

Homeownership leads to better test scores and higher rates of high school graduation and college attendance, especially among children of low-income homeowners.

Homeownership contributes to higher standardized test scores in math, and for those with a longer homeownership tenure, increased test scores in reading.

Children of low-income homeowners are 11% more likely to graduate from high school and are 4.5% more likely to complete post-secondary education than children of low-income renters.

Homeowners can leverage their housing wealth to finance post-secondary education for their children, especially lower- and moderate-income households. For lower- and moderate-income households, a$10,000 increase in housing wealth raises the probability of college attendance by 14%.

Habitat offers families stability through shelter, which benefits children through consistency in schooling and minimized disruptions to their education. Habitat also partners with families to provide affordable housing that matches their needs and may reduce overcrowding, thus facilitating more conducive study environment.

Regardless of income level, homeownership promotes civic and social engagement.

Homeowners are more likely to vote in local elections than renters in comparable neighborhoods, and this likelihood increases with the degree of neighborhood disadvantage in low-income urban areas.

Regardless of the length of time they have owned a home, homeowners are 1.3 times more likely to become involved in a neighborhood group and to join a civic association than renters. The increased participation in neighborhood groups holds true in low-income neighborhoods as well.

Low- and moderate-income homeowners have more social capital resources, such as a larger social network within their community, than do renters at similar income levels.

Habitat requires future homeowners to contribute “sweat equity” by volunteering a certain number of hours on a build site (either for their home or another family’s home). This investment by families in both their home and their neighbors’ homes helps contribute to the sense of community among homeowners.

Pre-purchase support programs, such as financial education classes, also help build networks among Habitat homeowners, and volunteer engagement on home builds and other Habitat events can strengthen relationships with the local community.

Habitat engages families, volunteers and community members in civic decision-making through advocacy for policies and resources that help more people access a quality place to live in a thriving community.

Robins Landing will produce $93,600,000 in taxable value and $750,000/year in incremental property taxes to the City of Houston.

By increasing economic investment in East Houston, Robins Landing will attract businesses to invest in the community creating job opportunities and greater access to retail and dining for residents.

Sadly, homeownership is out of reach for most low-income families because they have been systematically denied access to affordable mortgages. The resulting homeownership gap is greatest for Black and Hispanic/Latinx families and is widely recognized as the major source of wealth disparities between Whites and people of color in the United States.

Home equity represented a larger share of net wealth for low-income households and Black and Hispanic/Latinx households.

In FY2020, 49% and 44% of families served by Houston Habitat were Black and Hispanic/Latinx, respectively — Houston Habitat’s focus on working with low- and moderate-income families and serving a diverse network of homeowners means that the home equity Habitat families gain likely constitutes a large share of their overall net wealth.

Decent, affordable housing improves physical and mental health.

Homeowners are more likely to occupy homes with fewer repair needs than renter households, and housing problems are more acute for low-income households.

The U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention identified home improvement as one of six evidence-based, high-impact solutions for addressing social determinants of health. Improving housing quality improves general health status, respiratory health and mental health and reduces the risk of injury.

Decreasing housing costs for cost-burdened households (those spending more than half of their household expenditures on housing) releases resources to spend on nutritious food and health care and limits overcrowding to minimize the spread of respiratory infectious diseases.

According to Children’s Health Watch, unstable housing for families with children leads to $111 billion in increased health and educational costs over 10 years.

Houston Habitat lowers the cost of homeownership and makes it easier for future homeowners to access quality housing. Thanks to their affordable mortgages, families who partner with Habitat have the ability to prioritize investing in their families’ health and wellness.

Habitat’s energy-efficient designs generate financial savings for homeowners by lowering utility costs, which are typically the second greatest monthly expense after mortgage payments.

Newer homes have greater energy efficiency than older homes. As of 2015, 17% of single-family homes built before 1980 lacked proper insulation, 21% of homes had heating systems at least 20 years old, and only 11% had received an energy audit. In contrast, only 1% of homes constructed after 2009 had substandard insulation, and nearly 90% had double- or triple-pane windows.

For older single-family homes, weatherization reduces low-income households’ total energy costs by 12.4%within the first year. This is substantial given that low-income households have higher energy burdens, spending three times the share of their annual income(7.2%) on energy costs as compared with other households (2.3%).

Habitat builds new homes sustainably, using green building techniques and materials that increase the efficiency and durability of the home and use less resources. Many homes are Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design, or LEED, and Energy Star certified