• To qualify for a Habitat for Humanity partnership, families must have a need for housing, an ability to pay the monthly mortgage (decent credit), and a willingness to partner (do sweat equity).
• Families must meet certain income requirements, including having an income below 60% of the area median. (For a family of four, between $18,250 and $36,540.)
• Partner families make a down payment of $800 and make a monthly mortgage payment of approximately $275.
• House payments from partner families go to the Fund for Humanity, which creates an additional revenue stream that builds more houses.
• Partner families must complete 300 hours of sweat equity. After completing 150 hours, they may select a lot. After 200 hours, construction can begin. After 300 hours, families can move into their home if complete.
• All partner families are required to complete homeownership classes with Habitat, which includes budgeting, mortgages and loans, home maintenance, lawn care and home/fire/emergency safety.
• Habitat for Humanity of Evansville was founded in 1984 and was the first Habitat for Humanity affiliate in the state of Indiana. More than 370 have been served since then.
• There have been three "super" blitz builds in Evansville. The first one, in 1992, set a record with 21 houses built in one week. The other two blitzes were 1995 (25 houses) and 2000 (26 houses).
• Habitat houses are built to local code and national standards and are Energy Star compliant.
• Since its inception, Habitat homeowners have paid more than $640,000 in property taxes.
• Houses are sold with a 25-year, zero-interest mortgage. There is a $20,000 “soft” second mortgage, which is forgiven over a 10-year period at $2,000 per year. This encourages neighborhood stability.
• Ninety cents of every dollar raised goes toward house construction.
• In 2005, the architectural firm of Veazey Parrott Durkin & Shoulders created three new house designs that will blend in more closely with the look and feel of some of the older neighborhoods in Evansville.
• Three days after the November 6, 2005 tornado, Habitat for Humanity of Evansville launched Operation Home Again, a housing initiative for families affected by the tornado. Construction of 55 homes in the New Haven subdivision, a 13-acre tract on the southeast side of Evansville, was completed in December 2009. About 40 of these homes were built with partner families whose mobile homes were destroyed or severely damaged in the tornado.