We Build Homes
Habitat brings individuals, churches, community groups, businesses, and organizations together, to build homes for local families in need. Because we sell our homes at cost, we can help families who would otherwise not be able to afford a home.
We Fix Homes
Whether by fixing a roof, building a ramp for accessibility, or weatherizing an older structure, Habitat is committed to making sure our neighbors with affordable homes can continue living in them.
We Advocate for Housing
Here in Washington State and across the country, Habitat for Humanity is fighting to make affordable housing a priority through our Cost of Home campaign.
Our Current Projects
Telegraph Townhomes
The Telegraph Townhomes Project is a permanently affordable, low-income housing solution made possible by our partnership with the Kulshan Community Land Trust and the Whatcom Community Foundation. This groundbreaking project will consist of 52 townhomes to be sold to Whatcom County residents earning 30% – 80% of the area medium income. This will result in long-term housing solutions for average wage earners in Whatcom County. The land will be held in the land-trust, further reducing the cost of these energy-efficient homes to the homebuyers and maintaining the homes’ affordability. Currently, eight units have been completed, with four more under construction. Click here to take a virtual tour of unit of the units, generously put together by Laura Rex, at Stitched 360 Imaging.
Following the same design from our finished house on Bramble Way, our Stable Lane home will be an incredibly energy efficient, three bedroom, single family unit in Sudden Valley. It will also be all volunteer built, and completed in 2021.
Stable Lane
Unity Village Tiny Homes
We at Habitat are committed to finding solutions across the housing spectrum, and to providing our neighbors with a viable pathway from homelessness to homeownership. This summer we partnered with the City of Bellingham and the housing nonprofit, HomesNow, to bring two more tiny homes to Bellingham’s Unity Village. Currently being built at the Telegraph site, these tiny homes will serve as transitional shelter for our neighbors experiencing homelessness.
Why Housing?
Housing is a human right.
Everyone deserves a safe, decent, affordable place to call home.
No one should pay more than half their paycheck on housing.
Our neighbors make huge tradeoffs in order to afford a place to live. They go without healthcare and good food, and often take on second or third jobs. By providing an affordable mortgage for a safe, decent, affordable home, working Whatcom County families are able to afford more of the necessities of a decent life. Most important of all, they’re able to spend more time together as families, while creating savings and investing in their children’s futures.
Housing affordability is a crisis.
Lack of affordable shelter affects more and more people each day. Any family of four living in Whatcom County whose household income is less than $95,000 a year — over 42,000 of our neighbors — is living without secure housing. Housing insecurity touches nearly half of adults at some point in their working lives.
A home can end poverty for good.
We know that owning an affordable home is the best way for families to permanently end the generational cycle of poverty.
A home means better health & more growth
A safe, decent, stable place to live is a necessary component for healthy families. There’s an undeniable link between where we live, and our mental and physical health. This also means better educational outcomes for children and adults alike.
More affordable homes = more affordable rent
Every new homebuyer frees up a market-rate or subsidized rental for another community member. This is how, using Habitat’s homebuilding model, we can create a path to transitional housing for the homeless. This is how we will solve the housing puzzle, and end the housing crisis in our community.