About

Our Volunteers

Many of our volunteers come to us without construction experience. They come to us from all walks of life and are committed to helping our neighbors. Volunteers join us in activities that are personally rewarding and that support the community, from on-site skilled and unskilled labor to office and committee support.

Our Families

Habitat families get a hand up, not a handout. They buy their homes from Essex County Habitat after they provide between 240 and 360 “sweat equity hours” to build their own home and other families’ homes. They purchase their homes with an affordable mortgage and then pay a reasonable monthly mortgage that includes an escrow payment for taxes, insurance, and maintenance.

Our Facts

• Formed following a merger between Merrimack Valley Habitat for Humanity and Habitat for Humanity of the North Shore.
• Founded in 1985 as a non-profit, ecumenical-based organization
• 123 new homes built
• 43 homes rehabbed
• Successfully supporting over 160 families with homeownership
• 17 homes currently under construction and another 2 in the pipeline
• The average home sells for approximately $220,000
• Every Habitat Future Homeowner contributes “sweat equity”  building their homes and the homes of others.
• Habitat families purchase their homes for the out-of-pocket cost of construction with an affordable mortgage.
• Habitat homeowners earn between 40% and 60% of the area median income – for a family of four, that means $44,700 – $84,120 annually (dependent upon the surrounding community).
• A 30 year, affordable mortgage.
• Essex County Habitat serves 34 cities and towns in Essex County.