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| About
Habitat |
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Mission
Statement |
| "Habitat for Humanity works
in partnership with God and people everywhere, from all walks of
life, to develop communities with God's people in need by building
houses so that there are decent houses in decent communities in
which people can live and grow into all that God intended." |
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Our Beginning
Local citizens who were
concerned about the housing problems in our area attended meetings
in 1992 and organized a steering committee. This group
worked with Habitat for Humanity International and developed a set
of bylaws in keeping with the principles of Habitat for
Humanity. The group was recognized as Neenah-Menasha Area
Habitat for Humanity on February of 1993, but expansion plans led
to the change of our name to Greater Fox Cities Area Habitat for
Humanity in 1996. As an affiliate we follow the philosophy
and operation guidelines setup by Habitat for Humanity International,
but operate as a separate entity. Each affiliate is
registered with their state as a non-profit organization and
completely responsible for funding and building homes in their
area. Affiliates are governed by a local board of directors
and operate through working committees. |
What We Do
Greater Fox Cities Area Habitat
for Humanity builds houses using volunteer labor and funds raised
from the support of local businesses, churches, individual donors
and fund-raising events. These houses are sold at no profit
and no interest to a partner family chosen through a
nondiscriminatory selection process. Partner families become
'Habitat Homeowners' after they have completed the required number
of sweat equity hours. A small down payment of $500 is
required, and the interest-free mortgage is held by our
affiliate. Homeowners are required to pay monthly mortgage
payments and obtain homeowners insurance. |
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What is Sweat
Equity?
Each partner family is required
to complete 300 hours (single adult family) or 500 hours (two
adult family). Homeowners are required to work on the construction
site of their home, other Habitat homes, attend budget classes,
attend homeowner education courses, and complete community service
hours with other non-profit organizations. Habitat has this
requirement because we are a hand-up, not a hand-out. We
want the family to develop a sense of ownership through hard work
on their own home. Applicants who lack interest or
motivation to help themselves are not viable candidates for our
program. |
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Greater
Fox Cities Area Habitat for Humanity celebrated its
10th anniversary in 2003. Since our beginning we have built
over 80 homes for needy families and individuals. |
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