How The Program Works

If you are interested in becoming a Habitat homeowner, please be aware that we are currently not building. We are hopeful of acquiring land soon and resuming our building. When that happens, we will post orientation information on this website, stating the date, the time, and the location of the orientation. Selecting families for our homes begins with an orientation meeting at the time that we know will have a home available. Please check back here on our website for up-to-date information.

Families seeking to partner with us and become a Habitat homeowner family are reviewed and selected by HFHWBNRI based on 3 primary criteria:

      1 - Live in housing which is considered sub-standard: overcrowded, has structural or safety problems, is in an unsafe neighborhood, inaccessible to public transportation or disabled people, or unstable living arrangements, and if you are unable to obtain adequate housing through other conventional means. Lack of adequate housing may include problems with the present structure; water, electrical or sewage service systems; heating system, or failure to meet city property maintenance standards.  Also taken into consideration are the number, the ages and the gender of children compared to the number of bedrooms in your present home.

      2 - Have the ability to pay: Homeowners actually buy their homes, so they must be able to make a no interest mortgage payment each month, show proof of a stable income, and not have too much debt. Total debt, including housing expenses, should not exceed 50% of total income. You will be required to openly and fully discuss your financial situation with Habitat personnel.

       3 - Have a willingness to partner with Habitat for Humanity of West Bay and Northern RI, Inc.: The partner family must complete 400 hours of "sweat equity" which includes working on their home and the homes of other Habitat families.

When the home and the partner family's sweat equity hours are complete, we sell the home to the family with a 25 to 30 year no interest mortgage that includes tax and insurance. Monthly payments are currently approximately $900 per month. The HFHWBNRI family then becomes a homeowner, just like any other homeowner.

A homeowner's income should fall within the range of 25% to 50% of the median income for our service area. Below is a chart showing current income guidelines for a prospective homeowner: