What drives us

Saginaw Habitat for Humanity (SHFH) is one of more than 1,700 U.S. affiliates of Habitat for Humanity International, a nonprofit Christian housing ministry dedicated to the elimination of poverty housing around the world. Founded in 1976 by Millard and Linda Fuller, the Georgia-based nonprofit organization has built over 200,000 houses in nearly 100 countries. As a community-based organization, SHFH considers all applicants without regard to race, color, religion, sex, or national origin.

In Habitat for Humanity, building relationships and communities is as important as building homes. One key reason Habitat has been so successful is the nurturing that is provided to partner families, even after construction is complete. By working together as partners, we all become aware of our common heritage as God's children.

Habitat is not a give-away program. Homeowners, as partner families, put hundreds of hours of their own labor, known as sweat-equity, into building their houses. Then they purchase their houses at no profit to Habitat, financed with an affordable, no-interest loan. The 'down payment' on a Habitat house includes fulfillment of sweat-equity requirements and payment of closing costs, which generally are around $1,400. The families' mortgage payments are 'recycled' into a fund that is used to build more houses for more families in need.

Founded in April of 1987, SHFH has completed 137 simple, decent homes in Saginaw County--110 in the City of Saginaw (east side and west side), 15 in Carrollton Township, 6 in Buena Vista Township, 4 in Bridgeport Township, and 2 in Saginaw Township.

The cost of a typical Habitat house (1,050 s.f., 3-bedroom with basement) is approximately $74,000. This is affordable to persons earning 30-60% of the area median income, in part because of Habitat’s no-profit, zero-interest mortgages, and approximately $10,000 in down-payment assistance from the Michigan State Housing Development Authority (MSHDA).

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