Building hope.

Building homes.

What is Habitat for Humanity?

Habitat for Humanity is an ecumenical  Christian     home-building ministry that was founded in      Americus,  Georgia in 1976. HFH is dedicated to eliminating      substandard housing throughout the world. As one of the largest homebuilders in the world, over 350,000 houses have been built and renovated,  providing shelter or more than 1.5  million people and working towards a world where all of  God’s people have a  simple, decent and affordable place to live.

What is Habitat for Humanity of Greater Portland?

HFHGP was founded in 1985 as a private, non-profit 501c3 organization.  To date we have completed more than 50 houses, however we are  committed to the development and uplifting of families and communities, not only to the construction of houses. We operate in Cumberland County and are one of 9   Habitat affiliates in Maine, and one of thousands in the world – all operating as separate non-profit  organizations. Our   mission is to   eliminate    poverty housing in the Greater Portland area.    Habitat for  Humanity is a people to-people  partnership drawing prospective families and  communities together with volunteers and resources.

Simple. Decent. Affordable.

We work together to build decent, affordable housing for families whose income is above public housing   guidelines and who are unable to qualify for conventional mortgages. Qualified families are given a     “hand up”, not a “hand out,” paying a monthly  no-interest mortgage to Habitat. Each recipient “partner” family must put in  hundreds of hours of “sweat equity” in order to qualify to purchase a Habitat house. The selection process is  non-discriminatory.

Families are chosen on the basis of need, ability to make mortgage  payments and the ability and  willingness to partner. Each house is sold to a qualifying family at cost through a no-interest mortgage. With insurance and real estate taxes, qualifying families must  be able to afford a monthly house payment of at least $750/month.     

Mortgage payments coming to Habitat are recycled into new Habitat projects  – so that funds donated are used over and over again through our revolving Fund for Humanity to be used to build more homes.

On a typical house there will be up to 800 volunteers   sharing in the building of the house. By utilizing volunteer labor, along with donated land and materials, Habitat can generally build a three-bedroom home for $135,000    – well under the market value of the house.

ReStore

ReStore is a discount retail outlet open to the public that sells new and lightly used building materials, fixtures, furniture, house wares, appliances, tools, and other surplus items donated by individuals, contractors, and businesses. Proceeds from the ReStore help fund the construction of Habitat homes within our 24 town service area. In addition to raising funds, the ReStore helps the environment by rechanneling usable materials away from our landfills.

Learn more.

Build It Green

Simple, decent, affordable, green. A commitment to green ideals is a commitment to our homeowners: lower costs to heat and operate, lower costs to maintain, improved indoor air quality, reduced water use, greater awareness of the impact of housing on the environment, home locations closer to public transport when possible, all delivered without increasing our targeted price point.  Learn more.

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Habitat for Humanity of Greater Portland does not discriminate on the basis of race, color, religion, sex, sexual orientation, national origin, ancestry, age, physical or mental disability, or familial status.