Frequently Asked Questions

General

What is Habitat for Humanity?

Habitat for Humanity of Tulare County is a non-profit, ecumenical, Christian housing ministry seeking to eliminate poverty housing, and make decent shelter a matter of conscience and action. Habitat for Humanity invites people form all walks of life to work together in partnership to build houses with families in need.

How does Habitat for Humanity of Tulare County work?

Habitat for Humanity of Tulare County offers a hand up, not a hand out. We build houses with hard working, very low-income families who partner with us to invest 500 hours of ‘sweat equity’ building their own houses or working on other Habitat projects. After completion of a house,  the  family purchases their house using a no interest mortgage form Habitat, that does not exceed 1/3 of their monthly income. The Mortgage payments are then used to build more Habitat for Humanity houses in Tulare County. Eighty percent of every Habitat house is built by volunteers.

Families

How does a family qualify for a Habitat home?

In order to qualify for homeownership, applicants must:

• Be willing to partner with Habitat for Humanity by working 500 hours of "sweat equity" on their own home and other Habitat projects.
• Have a steady income and good credit.
• Earn less than 50% of the county median income.
• Have a debt/income ration that will allow for a mortgage payment of 30% of the family income.
• Be living in substandard housing; such as lack of indoor plumbing, poor heating, leaking roof, rodents, overcrowding, unsafe neighborhood, etc.
• Be a legal United States resident.

How are partner families selected?

We accept applications once or twice a year. Our Family Selection Committee, reviews the applications and chooses families based on need, willingness to partner with Habitat, and their ability to repay the no-interest, no profit mortgage. Habitat does not consider race, religion, gender or ethnic background when choosing partner families.

Volunteers

Do I need experience to volunteer at a Habitat job site?

No. Many tasks only require a willingness to learn and work with others. However, you must be 16 years or older to be on construction sites.

How can I become involved with Habitat for Humanity of Tulare County?

You can support Habitat for Humanity of Tulare County in many ways:

• Become a construction volunteer
• Serve on a committee
• Donate building materials to the ReStore
• Become a ReStore volunteer
• Provide lunch and refreshments to our construction volunteers
• Volunteer in the office
• Help organize special events