COST OF HOME
ADVOCACY CAMPAIGN
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Families all across the United States are paying too high a price to cover the cost of home. Everywhere you look — cities, suburbs, rural areas — the stability that home should bring remains out of reach for far too many families.
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At Habitat for Humanity, we know that a family should never have to spend more than 30% of their income on a home. But consider that even before the coronavirus pandemic, more than 17 million U.S. households were paying half or more of their income on a place to live. Now, as the significant economic impacts of COVID-19 continue to unfold, the number of families struggling to make ends meet is only growing.
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That is unacceptable.
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We know the complexities that surround the cost of a home. We also know the struggle, stress and pain of far too many families in our communities. Families who have suffered from redlining, racial inequality and the housing disparities that follow. Families who have worked hard and still come up short, not because of their own efforts but because of systemic issues and an inequitable economy.
And we know that those with the fewest resources are always the ones who are forced to make the hardest choices.
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Your home shouldn’t cost you your health. Your home shouldn’t cost you your children's education. When the cost of a home is your family’s future, the cost is too high. That’s something none of us can afford.
A safe home.
Nutritious food.
Health care.
Reliable transportation.
Which would
you choose?
To increase home affordability and stability for all households, policymakers at all levels of government need to address the immediate affordability needs families face, in addition to the ongoing, structural barriers to home affordability for low-income families across the rental and homeownership spectrum.
These four key policy areas of the #CostofHome campaign are critical to narrowing our racial divides and helping all families achieve home affordability and lasting security:
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Increasing supply and preservation of affordable homes
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Equitably increasing access to credit
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Optimizing land use for affordable homes
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Ensuring access to and development of communities of opportunity
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Over the next five years, we are committed to mobilizing our local Habitat organizations, our partners, our volunteers and community members across the country to identify solutions and help implement the policies that will allow 10 million individuals to meet their most basic needs.
Everyone deserves the opportunity to build the foundation for a strong, healthy future for themselves and their families — no matter where they live or how much money they earn. Every family deserves the chance to thrive.
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You can help us make that possible. Together, we can make the #CostOfHome something we all can afford.
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To learn more about Habitat’s advocacy, visit habitat.org/about/advocacy.