About Us
"The great use of life is to spend it for something that will outlast it."
William James
We strive to make safe, decent, affordable housing a matter of conscience and
action for all members of our community. W
Habitat for Humanity International is an ecumenical Christian
organization with over 2,300 affiliates in all 50 states,
Established in 1997, the Bennington Area Habitat for Humanity affiliate is an all-volunteer organization that invites people of all backgrounds, races and religions to build homes together in partnership with families in need. We have completed eight homes, including one completely renovated home and seven new homes.
When we build a home, we
Include people of all different skill levels as volunteers.
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Require each adult in the homeowner family to contribute at least 250 hours of sweat equity.
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Raise money from area residents, community and religious organizations to offset costs.
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Build stronger local communities by bringing diverse groups of people together to achieve a common goal.
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Sell Habitat homes to partner families at no profit and provide no interest mortgages.
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Recycle mortgage payments into a fund used to build more houses.
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Provide support for partner families during and after construction.
Please contact us to let us know if you are interested in working with us on site or behind the scenes on one of our committees.
From top to bottom
Rupert - our 8th home
Winhall - our 7th home
Jackson, NY - our 2nd home
East Arlington - our fifth and third homes
Shaftsbury - our sixth home
Bennington - our fouth home
Pownal - our first home
We will start our ninth home in West Rupert in spring 2008.
Goals for the next three years – adopted by the board in September 2007. meeting.
- Complete two homes/serve two new families each calendar year.
- Work with other community organizations to support families in need and explore the possibilities of cooperation in affordable housing projects.
- Purchase land on which we can build in the next three years so we always have land on hand prior to a search for a family partner.
- Acquire space to keep mandated files and space to store our equipment.
- Create a plan to increase awareness of our mission and contribution to Bennington County to secure greater financial and voluntary support.
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Secure sufficient financial resources to realize our goals. We estimate that we will need close to $220,000 annually from the local community to purchase land, building supplies, and services to build two homes, helping two families every year.
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Create a sustainable structure capable of realizing these goals.