Applicants

Residency

To be considered for the Habitat program, applicants must have been residents or worked in Hamilton County for the past year.

Financial

The gross annual income must be between 35% and 75% of median income for Hamilton County. This varies with the size of the family and for example a family of three would be an annual income between $20,510 and $43.950. An applicant cannot have finalized or filed a bankruptcy within the last year.

Inadequacy of present living conditions

Applicants must currently be living in inadequate housing which is determined by any of the following criteria:

1. It is physically inadequate or unsafe, i.e. not heated or plumbed properly, roof leaks, etc.
2. It is too small for the family, i.e. school age children of the opposite sex sleeping in the same room
3. Housing costs are more than 50% of gross income
4. It is temporary housing or have been forced to move in with another family.

Willingness to Partner

Partner Families are the core of Habitat. Each adult in the family is required to contribute 306 "work equity" hours on his/her house and other Habitat projects. Eighty percent of those hours are usually spent working on Habitat homes with the remaining 20% of the hours spent working for other pre-approved non-profit organizations.

Work equity hours are important for Habitat families. HFHHC is blest with an abundance of volunteers who come to build the houses. Many applicants feel that they are on the outskirts of society and that they just don't quite belong. By requiring them to participate in their home build, applicants get a chance to learn that there are people who care about them. Working along side of volunteers, families have an opportunity to integrate into their community and gain a sense of belonging and contribution to society. The goal is to have families gain pride in their accomplishments and become part of the solution and not part of the problem.
 

Family Selection Committee

The Family Selection Committee reviews the family's application and interviews the family in their present residence. If they meet all of the above qualifications, the committee may recommend that the family be considered for our program. Financial documentation is requested and reviewed. This includes the last two years Federal Tax Returns, the two most recent pay stubs and bank statements. Finally a credit report is obtained to verify that the information provided on their application is correct. If all is in order, the family is notified that they have been approved to participate in the program. A Nurturer is assigned to the family to become their advocate and friend. It is the responsibility of this person to give advice, support and encouragement as the family proceeds through the Habitat program. In the process, the Nurturer will get to know the family and learn areas in which the family might need help, such as health care, education, budgeting, child rearing, housekeeping, etc. If a particular problem is mentioned, observed or suspected, the family is referred to an appropriate source of information to help them resolve the problem.

Ownership

Habitat houses are sold at no profit to partner families, financed with no-interest mortgages that are issued for 20 years. House payments go towards the principle and into an escrow account to pay the taxes and insurance.

Application

To apply for a home please complete the application form and submit it to:

Email to: cpetty@hfhhc.org

Fax to: (317) 896-9364

Mail to: Habitat for Humanity of Hamilton County, P. O               Box 247, Westfield, IN 46074

Delivery to our office at:  17902 U. S. Highway 31 North, Suite 4, Westfield, IN (Intersection of Routes 31 and 32) For directions please feel free to call us at (317) 896-9423.

If you have questions regarding the application or would like additional information, please feel free to call us at (317) 896-9423.

Partner Family Application

Forms require Adobe Reader. You can download Adobe Reader