Introduction
Thank you for your interest in starting a Critical Home Repair program in your community. Critical Home Repair is defined as extensive interior or exterior work performed to alleviate critical health, life and safety issues or code violations for homeowners in need.
About Critical Home Repair
CHR helps low-income homeowners who are affected by age, disability or family circumstances and struggle to maintain the integrity of their homes. Through CHR, they are able to reclaim their homes with pride and dignity. CHR works as a partner with your core building program, enabling you to serve more families, and increase opportunities for volunteers. Most importantly, CHR is part of Habitat’s broader community development strategy, the Neighborhood Revitalization Initiative. NRI is designed to pursue our strategic goal of helping to transform and strengthen communities so that those who reside in them will be able to live and grow into all that God intends for them. CHR addresses the health and safety of the individual residences in a neighborhood, strengthens connections within the community and helps preserve affordable housing stock.
History of Critical Home Repair
Critical Home Repair began in the United States in 2008 as a neighborhood revitalization program of Habitat for Humanity Charlotte in North Carolina. The program has had (and continues to have) a significant impact on families and communities in Charlotte. Habitat for Humanity International has modified that program and is encouraging affiliates across the country to join the CHR movement by expanding their scope of services. CHR is designed to support HFHI’s mission in two ways:
- Exponentially increase the number of families served annually by working with a new segment of the population.
- Call upon and mobilize individuals and institutions to implement policies and practices that preserve affordable housing with an emphasis on developing community partnerships and working with existing homes.
By participating in CHR, you will become part of a new movement to expand Habitat’s capacity to help those in need of a safe and decent place to live. Your light will shine brighter in your community as people see how your work serving those in need is restoring hope and dignity to their lives.
