By Megan Vick
Fridge Filters Cares
What is Habitat for Humanity?
Habitat for Humanity (HFH) is an organization dedicated to providing safe, affordable, decent housing to families in need. Most Americans know of HFH as a volunteer organization. Maybe you’ve even volunteered through your school, your church, or your job! HFH has become an international household name sheltering over 2 million people across the globe.
What do they do? How does it help?
Simply put, Habitat for Humanity builds homes for people. Home ownership is a very important part of life for many. It creates personal wealth by dealing with equity, savings, and personal credit. In areas with safe and secure housing, schools and community groups will thrive. It’s a win-win for everyone. HFH also has ReStore. You can take your gently used furniture, home appliances, and home accessories to any ReStore where they will be sold to the public at a fraction of its price. ReStore is similar to a Salvation Army or Goodwill.
Who does it help?
Habitat for Humanity helps as many people as they can. HFH operates on nearly every continent and in dozens of countries. Over 1.5 billion (yes, with a “b”) people live in substandard housing and nearly 100 million are homeless worldwide. In the United States alone, approximately 95 million people live with housing issues.
Why we love Habitat for Humanity:
Fridge Filters loves Habitat for Humanity because they don’t take the easy way out. Sure, any organization can collect money and give it to those in need. HFH is different. HFH gets people like you and me, who want to make a difference, to go and help build homes for others. It’s not only something the family living in the house can be proud of; it’s something we can all be proud of. We also love HFH because they make it easy to donate to them. If you can’t donate your time, you can donate dollars, building materials, or water and air filters.
How can I help?
Nearly every region and/or county in the USA and Canada has a Habitat for Humanity branch or chapter. Please visit www.habitat.org for more information about monetary donations or to search your region for a volunteer chapter. Also, you can check out www.habitat.com/restores to see about donating different items to help others in your community.
