How to Build Low-Income Housing

Announce that you're going to build or fix a home for a deserving
family and you might have more volunteers than you know what to do
with. With hefty donations of money, materials and labor, together you
and your community will hit a home run by building and rehabilitating
homes. These projects are a winner for everyone.

Difficulty: Moderately Easy

Instructions

1. Research the demographics of your community and get information on the demand and availability of low-income housing. Evaluate whether or not a building program would work in your neighborhood (these days, there's hardly a community that wouldn't benefit from some form of affordable housing for the poor). Solicit opinions from friends and neighbors.

2. Contact one of the established organizations:

3. Encourage licensed carpenters, contractors, painters, plumbers and electricians to get involved in the project. It's good for corporate community relations, and the more skilled hands the better.

4. Get ready for high-spirited hard work, tremendous productivity, new friendships made and a great party at the end of it all.

Tips & Warnings

• Some recruits have no carpentry, construction or painting skills whatsoever. Assure them there are other ways they can get involved: identifying and choosing qualified families, supplying refreshments, helping with publicity, entertaining the volunteers on building day--and there's always cleaning up.
• See 384 Hold a Barn Raising and 404 Build a School in a Third World Country for more ways to help out.
• Get the media interested. This is the kind of good news and communitybuilding story that media outlets love--and more important, so do their audiences. Keep the regional media, including radio and TV stations, abreast of the developments. See 372 Publicize an Event.
• Look for other organizations dedicated to this cause on the Web.