Family Focus: Meet the Bounvassana Family!
Mary Bounvassana lives with her two children Jeremias, 12, and Alicia, 10. Mary is a single mom and works as a bank teller. They live in a two-bedroom apartment that is poorly insulated, with an extensive mold problem which has caused both of her children asthma. The bathroom sink, bathtub, and toilet all get clogged due to poor plumbing. Mary and her children would love to move into a new house where they could all have separate rooms and a safe area to play. Learn more.
Homeownership Program
Habitat for Humanity provides a unique opportunity for hardworking families to build and buy their own homes. Our homes are sold at no profit to our homeowner families, with a 1% down payment and a 0% interest mortgage. The mortgage lengths vary depending on the family income. Habitat adjusts the length of the mortgage so that the monthly mortgage payment (which includes taxes, insurance, and a condo fee if applicable) is no more than 30% of the homeowner’s gross monthly income. Habitat for Humanity homeowner mortgage payments are put into a revolving fund that helps pay for construction of future homes in the Portland/Metro East community.
The selection of families who will purchase homes from Habitat for Humanity Portland/Metro East will be done by the Family Selection committee in a way that does not discriminate because of race, color, religion, sex, handicap, familial status, sexual orientation, age, gender identity or national origin or because all or part of the applicant’s income is derived from public assistance programs.
Sweat Equity
Every family is required to perform a minimum of 500 hours of volunteer work known as “sweat equity” within the Habitat organization before moving into their home. Sweat equity is an exciting learning experience in which you work with family, neighbors, and friends to build other families’ homes as well as your own. Working alongside volunteers and future neighbors to build your home and community is one of the most rewarding aspects of Habitat for Humanity. Besides working on the construction site, there are many other ways to complete sweat equity hours such as working at the Habitat for Humanity ReStore, helping with homeowner outreach, and attending classes on home maintenance and financial fitness.
