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:
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.
Jordan
Located in the heart of a region riddled with political and economic conflict, Jordan (PDF) has been a safe haven for people displaced by wars and unrest in neighboring countries. Approximately 1.3 million Syrian refugees live in the country, and their presence, along with vulnerable Jordanians, has raised demand for low-income housing, causing overcrowding and deteriorating infrastructure in urban areas such as East Amman. Jordan is also ranked third among countries that are suffering acute water shortage, and national and local authorities are under pressure to provide basic services, especially as fuel, electricity, and water usages have risen sharply since 2011.
Since 2002, Habitat Jordan has confronted these hardships. They promote green building techniques to reduce environmental strain and lower utility costs, resulting in job opportunities and building local capacity in sustainable construction. They also upgrade community facilities – schools, medical centers, and public spaces – to strengthen broader social cohesion. Habitat Jordan provides microloans, too, through community-based organizations, enabling low-income families to build or repair homes.
Malawi
In Malawi (PDF) more than half, or 58.9%, of the 4.8 million housing units are substandard homes. Typically, these houses are made of mud walls and grass thatched roofs. To meet the current housing demand, an estimated 21,000 new units will have to be constructed annually in the next 10 years.
Habitat for Humanity Malawi works with vulnerable groups to build or improve the place they call home, improves water, sanitation and hygiene facilities, helps families recover and rebuild following disasters, and provides informal vocational training. They also advocate for security of land tenure as well as sustainable and inclusive policies and systems that promote access to decent housing.
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.