Revitalize neighborhoods with Habitat for Humanity

Habitat for Humanity is an international non-profit that aims to eliminate poverty and homelessness by building safe, decent housing. Since 1976, volunteers all over the world have built and renovated over 300,000 houses. If you volunteer with Habitat for Humanity, not only are you building a home for someone in need, but you’ll be working side-by-side with the people you’re helping.

Signing Up

• Decide how long you want to spend volunteering – Habitat has one-day volunteer opportunities as well as longer ones.
• Find out if there’s a Habitat for Humanity affiliate near you. Head over to their website, where you can search for Habitat programs in your area.
• Get your whole family or group of friends to sign up!
• If there aren’t any building projects close enough to where you live, you can still help Habitat fight poverty:
  • run a food drive at your school – link to how to have a food collection drive
  • start a letter-writing campaign
  • spread the word about what Habitat does

Under 16?

You have to be 16 or over to volunteer on most Habitat sites, but even if you’re not, there’s still a lot you can do.

Check out Habitat’s Youth Programs for other ways to help out. You could:

• Volunteer at your local Habitat office
• Run a fundraiser at your school. Check out the Habitat’s Youth United fund-raising guide for some great ideas.
• Write an article for your local newspaper about homelessness in your community

Over 16?

Okay so you’re over 16 and you want to help out. Don’t think you have what it takes to build a house? Don’t worry, you do!

Projects are run by professionals that’ll teach you how to safely do anything from painting walls to building the roof. Of course, it’s still a physically demanding job, so make sure you’re up to the task before you sign up.

Find more awesome ways to get involved with action guides, volunteer opportunities, and causes at DoSomething.org