Vision
A world in which everyone has a decent place to live.
Mission
Seeking to put God's love into action, Habitat for Humanity brings people together to build homes, communities and hope.
Non-Proselytizing Policy
Habitat for Humanity International and its affiliated organizations will not proselytize. Nor will HFH work with entities or individuals who insist on proselytizing as part of their work with HFH. This means that HFH will not offer assistance on the expressed or implied condition that people must adhere to or convert to a particular faith or listen and respond to messaging designed to induce conversion to a particular faith.
History
Habitat for Humanity International was founded in 1976 by Millard and Linda Fuller. Today, Habitat for Humanity is a true world leader in addressing the issues of poverty housing.
Through the work of Habitat, thousands of low-income families have found hope in the form of affordable housing. Churches, community groups and others have joined together to successfully tackle a significant social problem—to provide decent housing for all. Since its inception, Habitat for Humanity has built or repaired over 1 million homes, serving more than 5 million people worldwide.
The Carter Work Project
The Carters served as Habitat for Humanity’s most influential and impactful volunteers by advocating for housing policy and human rights, fundraising, and mobilizing people around the world to build Habitat homes with them. Over the last four decades, the Jimmy and Rosalynn Carter Work Project has inspired more than 108,000 volunteers across the U.S. and in 14 countries to build, renovate and repair 4,447 Habitat homes.
Habitat DC-NOVA had the very special opportunity to host not one but two Carter Work Projects, the first in 1992 and the second in 2010.
The 1992 Carter Work Project built ten homes on Benning Road that became the first Habitat homes in the District of Columbia. The Carters spent a week alongside hundreds of volunteers – including the future homeowners – building these homes. Ms. Hope Gibson, one of the first Habitat homeowner in DC, remembered President Carter as hardworking and kind out on the job site. She often shared her remembrances of working on her home alongside President & Mrs. Carter. Ms. Gibson passed in May 2024, and Habitat DC-NOVA remembers her alongside the Carters for her joyfulness and humor.
The Carter Work Project revisited DC in 2010 and built ten homes in historic Ivy City in Northeast DC. These were the first of more than 40 homes built to revitalize the neighborhood by Habitat over the following decade. More than 3,000 volunteers came out to build the homes and install solar panels with partner GRID Alternatives over the course of the week.
Learn more about the Carter Work Projects that took place across the United States and the world.
