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Habitat for Humanity has been a part of the Urbana-Champaign community since 1991. They build and sell quality affordable houses to those in need using 90% volunteer labor, and operate a resale store in Champaign, which sells gently used household items to the community at a discounted price.

Habitat strives to provide the life-changing opportunity of home ownership for families who are working hard for a better life, but whose income simply doesn’t give room for a conventional down payment and an interest bearing mortgage. While the median household income in Champaign County is just over $64,000 more than 20% of our population lives below the poverty line of $18,000. More than 30% make less than $25,000 per year. With the average rental rate at $700 per month this means many families barely make ends meet. There are no savings for a down payment, even when they are frugal. And while $700 per month would make the payments on a $100,000 mortgage many rental properties fall well below the needs and standards of most families. To become a Habitat Homeowner candidates go through an extensive selection process and must meet the certain partnership and income/credit requirements.

Volunteer are needed for the following opportunities:

Volunteer for a home build-To volunteer for a current home build, follow the link below or contact Volunteer Coordinator, Kim Gollings 217-819-5110 or [email protected]

 Volunteer at the ReStore-To volunteer in the ReStore, contact the ReStore Manager at 217-819-5118 or restore@cuhabitat.org.

Volunteers check in donations, help customers, stock the store and more. The ReStore is a major contributor to Habitat’s efforts and also keeps over 460+ tons of material out of local landfills every year. Before they are allowed to donate their time, ReStore volunteers must first attend an orientation session. After the initial walk-through and informational session, a volunteer can give their time whenever the store is open.

Volunteer on a committee-To volunteer on a committee, contact Executive Director Chad Hoffman at 217-359-0507 x1061 or [email protected].

Habitat for Humanity International was founded in 1976, and the Champaign affiliate was established in 1991. Since then, the international organization has built more than 400,000 homes in 3,000 communities all over the world, and the local chapter has built over 100 houses in the Champaign-Urbana community.

This CU wiki entry began as a UIUC research project.  For more on that see Study of UC2B Anchor Institutions' Technology Use