Become A Partner Family

Overview of the Partnership:

Habitat builds a home in partnership with a family. At the completion of construction, and satisfaction of partner requirements, the family purchases the home by borrowing money from Habitat. Habitat holds the mortgage. The loan is paid off over some 22 years at no interest. There is a monthly mortgage payment consisting of principal (repaying the loan), taxes (real estate), and insurance (homeowners).

The potential applicant family should be aware that the estimated current cost of a Habitat home (in 2021) is approximately $85,000-$90,000. This means that the Partner Family should have a "take-home" income of $30,000 to $40,000 per year in order to afford the monthly mortgage payment.

What we look for in the Partner Family:

• The family has gainful employment.
• The family has significant roots in the community.
• The family currently lives in modest or substandard living conditions.
• The family ordinarily would not qualify for home ownership through normal credit institutions.
• The family is willing to partner with us by working 250-300 "sweat equity hours". (See, also, other "willingness to partner" criteria listed below.)
• The family commits to making regular mortgage payments until the mortgage is paid off.

How to Apply:

1. We ask the applicant family to volunteer a total of 8 hours in the community shortly after completing acceptance of the application. This may be satisfied by working on a Habitat home currently being built or by community service.

CLICK HERE to do a brief Interest Survey.This survey will be reviewed by a member of our Family Selection Committee and they will contact you about your eligibility and walk you through the process.

2. We are not accepting applications at this point in time. Please fill out the Interest Survey and we will contact you when our next application period opens.
3. If you still have questions after you complete the survey, email us at juchabitat618@gmail.com.
4. Our address is:
   Jackson Union County Habitat for Humanity
   PO Box 1064
   Carbondale, IL 62903-1064

Subsequent steps:

1. An interview will be scheduled and conducted by members of the Family Selection committee.
2. At this point a preliminary evaluation will be conducted. The applicant family will be notified of the evaluation.
3. Subsequent steps will include a credit check with credit monitoring agencies and also a background check with civil authorities.
4. We make every attempt to inform the applicant family of any areas of concern that we have. Some areas of concern may include the family's current job history, the family's current income, the family's current amount of debt and any anomalies associated with the background check.
5. At some point in time, usually a year before the next house is scheduled to be completed, a prospective family is Selected by our Board of Directors to become a Partner Family.
6. This process takes time and several applicant families have expressed frustration. Since we are currently only building one house per year, the process is necessarily long.

Willingness to partner:

Other examples of objective criteria for assessing willingness to partner include, but are not limited to, the following:

1. The family makes "earnest money" deposits to their escrow account and has enough money saved to pay a modest down payment. Currently (2011) the down payment is $1500.
2. The family agrees to avoid new consumer debt during this process.
3. The family must be willing to move where the affiliate has land on which to build.
4. The family notifies the affiliate of any change in family composition.
5. The family notifies the affiliate of negative changes in economic circumstances, including any reduction of income.
6. The family notifies the affiliate of any changes in contact (address, phone number, etc.) information.