"Advocacy, Building, Fundraising, Education"

                Advocacy is the action of supporting a cause or proposal. It can be political, as in lobbying for a specific piece of legislation, or social and intellectual, as in speaking out on behalf of those without a voice.  Either way, you are calling on someone with power to take action. That power can derive from different sources — from an elected or legal mandate, or from popular support and the power of numbers. This is why raising broad public awareness of an issue through the media and grassroots organizing campaigns is often an essential part of effective advocacy.

-----Excerpt from the NYC Habitat Chapter

 

                Habitat for Humanity was not founded to simply build house.  Though HFH has built more than 150,000 houses around the world and provided more than 750,000 people in more than 90 different countries with safe, decent, affordable housing, it would take hundreds of years to eradicate homelessness.  Building houses is simply the best way to really advocate for change.  It takes advocacy to make real change.  The greatest change results from legislative action.  Legislative action starts with YOU!

                By providing affordable housing, HFH indirectly eliminates world poverty.  Housing is the problem, not the cause;  HFH seeks to fight the cause.  Housing in the United States costs up to 40% of a family's income/budget.  It is the biggest percentage, but compared to costs in health care, food and clothing, it is unfortunately the least important.  However, choosing to be homeless causes higher health care costs and especially an adverse environment for children to grow up in.  It's a vicious cycle that HFH tries to break through building houses and advocating for change.

It Starts with YOU! Tell your elected officials to support affordable housing HERE.