Our Global Impact
At Pikes Peak Habitat, we are passionate about ensuring that everyone, everywhere has a safe and decent place to live. Not only do we build and repair homes for workforce families in El Paso County, but we also contribute to international development projects around the world through our tradition of tithing and our Global Village service trips.
Pikes Peak Habitat's Tradition of Tithing
A proud tradition of Pikes Peak Habitat is the enduring legacy of our affiliate’s tithing program. We tithe 10% of all undesignated funds to Habitat affiliates in developing countries to support their ongoing efforts to build homes, community, and hope in their local communities.
In 2021, Pikes Peak Habitat was awarded the Sam Mompongo Award, which recognizes affiliates with a lifetime tithe of $1 million, which equates to affordable housing solutions for more than 250 families. As an affiliate, we are honored to support the incredible work being done by our international partner affiliates worldwide, and we are dedicated to supporting our partners until everyone, everywhere has a decent place to call home.
Starting in 2024, we will also have opportunities for individuals to travel to one of our partner tithe countries and serve with their national staff for a week.
Our International Tithe Partners
Pikes Peak Habitat for Humanity is supporting the following affiliates around the globe:
Bangladesh
In Bangladesh (PDF) one in four people live in poverty, and UNICEF estimates there are four million slum dwellers living in the capital city, Dhaka, often in dwellings made of poor-quality construction materials. Slum dwellers often lack access to clean water, safe sanitation, and waste management. Habitat Bangladesh works to address these issues through their Water, Sanitation, and Hygiene Programs (WASH) and by working on building resilient urban slum settlements through living condition upgrades and skill development programs. Habitat Bangladesh also partners with government officials and other international partners to support Rohingya Refugees, forcefully displaced nationals from Myanmar currently living at the Cox Bazar refugee camp.
The Dominican Republic
Established in 1986, Habitat for Humanity Dominican Republic partners with families to "turn housing into a durable asset that adds value to communities." With a population of more than 10.5 million, the Dominican Republic has a housing deficit of almost 2.2 million units, and the percentage of the population living under the poverty line sits at 23.4%. Habitat Dominican Republic is taking innovative approaches to addressing the need for safe, permanent housing including providing technical assistance to families constructing their own homes, providing microloans to women so they can repair their homes, and providing training in the areas of financial education, water sanitation, and construction to empower community members. Habitat Dominican Republic is also leading the charge in finding creative ways to construct homes using recycled materials by building homes that are made 60-70% out of durable plastic panels that are resistant against tropical storms and hurricanes.
See the most recent Habitat Dominican Republic impact report (PDF).
International Disasters Fund
Natural disasters, war, and civil unrest displace millions of people around the world from their homes every year. The ability to fill a person’s most basic needs — health, water, shelter, sanitation, livelihoods, and safety — becomes both more difficult and more critical in an emergency. Supported by tithe funds from U.S. Habitat for Humanity affiliates, the International Disasters Fund helps Habitat organizations abroad respond to disasters as they occur (PDF). Funding also may be used for responses to protracted humanitarian emergencies. Recently, this fund has been used to support Ukrainian refugees and offer a range of interventions to those affected by hurricanes in Guatemala and Honduras.
Orphans and Vulnerable Groups Fund
The Orphans and Vulnerable Groups Fund supports the efforts of Habitat for Humanity organizations to provide adequate shelter and other interventions for particularly vulnerable people in communities around the world. These groups — children who have lost one or both parents, people who have a disease or disability, marginalized people suffering social exclusion — have very limited capacity to escape chronic poverty. This fund (PDF) enables Habitat to provide a hand up to them through housing solutions. Recently, this fund has supported efforts for elderly populations in Haiti and for the Dalits, an isolated minority group in Nepal.
Uganda
Uganda’s housing situation is characterized by inadequate homes both in terms of quality – with 900,000 substandard units in need of upgrades – and quantity, with an estimated 3 million additional housing units needed, based on current population growth nationwide. As an affiliate, Habitat Uganda focuses on housing for vulnerable groups, WASH (Water, Sanitation and Hygiene) programs, inheritance rights, and malaria prevention. Uganda also has a robust microfinance program for women, allowing low-income workers to undertake incremental microloans directly to improve their shelter, as well as a comprehensive youth mentorship and education program for orphans.
Read the supplemental Uganda country profile (PDF).