The Issue: Housing Affordability
Families in Milwaukee and all across the United States are paying too high a price to cover the cost of their home. Rents and homeownership costs are skyrocketing, while wages are not keeping pace. Far too often, families struggle to make ends meet. At Habitat for Humanity, we know that a family should never have to spend more than 30 percent of their income on a home.
Stability in Homeownership
Watch: Milwaukee Habitat Homeowners Rishonda and Tawyana speak about their experiences owning a Habitat home. Rishonda has owned her home since 2016 and Tawyana has owned her home since 2005.
1 in 3 Milwaukee renters pay half or more of their income on housing
That means that 1 in 3 families are denied the personal and economic stability that safe, decent and affordable housing provides.
Families spending more than half of their income on housing are: 23% more likely to have difficulty purchasing food, 28% more likely to be without health insurance, and almost twice as likely to lack a car.
Housing Equity
We know the complexities that surround the cost of home. Families have suffered from redlining, racial inequality and the housing disparities that follow. In the four-county metro Milwaukee area nearly three out of four Black families do not own the home they live in, while nearly three out of four white families do. We have to take a stand and declare our commitment: No family should have to pay more than half of their paycheck to cover the cost of home.
Milwaukee Habitat is growing to help twice as many families become first-time homebuyers by 2028. Over the next five years our goal is to expand to consistently build or rehab more than 30 homes per year, on our way to 40 per year by 2028.
In 2023, Milwaukee Habitat plans to:
- build 30 New Construction Homes for first-time home buyers in Harambee, King Park, and Midtown
- complete 60-70 Critical Home Repair Projects for existing homeowners
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