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What is the Women Build?
The Habitat for Humanity Women Build program recruits, educates, and encourages women to build and advocate for decent and affordable houses in their communities. Each Women Build home is funded and built by women leaders and volunteers in our community.
Why is it important?
Women make up 50 percent of Habitat for Humanity International’s volunteer force; yet often because of lack of training, they account for less than 15 percent of workers on the construction site. The Women Build program was established to encourage the involvement of women in the construction of Habitat homes.
In the U.S., 1 in 6 households pay half or more of their income on their home. Women are disproportionately affected by this severe cost-burden and make up a larger share of U.S. households living in poverty and as well as receiving government-subsidized housing. At Habitat for Humanity we know that safe, affordable housing means that individuals and families have the opportunity to thrive. However, women face challenges that make it more difficult to access this basic need.
These challenges include:
- Higher Rates of Poverty for Female Heads of Households: Fifteen percent of adult women lived in poverty in 2017 and make up 66% of the low-wage workforce. More than 3 out of 4 single parent families are headed by a female. 30.6 percent of female-headed households with children are below the poverty level. Sixty percent of children in poverty lived in households headed by women.
- Housing Discrimination: Minorities, women, and low- and moderate-income borrowers across the United States of America continue to receive a disproportionate amount of high cost loans.
- The Wage Gap: Women still earn, on average, 80 percent of what the average male earns. This challenge is even greater for black and Hispanic women.
What’s the timeline?
This year we’re doing something special… our first ever Women Build Wall Building Event! Join us May 21st, 2022 at the Hollywood Casino in Joliet. Click here for more information and to register to be a Woman Builder today!
How does it work?
Women volunteers from all walks of life work together to raise the funds and raise the walls for the entire Women Build project. Habitat for Humanity relies on women to be team leaders and each recruit up to women for their team. Together they will make up the more than 150 volunteers needed to construct the home and recruit friends and family to support their work through a peer-to-peer fundraising campaign.
Each Women Builder commits to raising a minimum of $350 to reserve their spot to build at our 2022 Women Build Wall Building Event at the Hollywood Casino happening in conjunction with the Will County Beer & Bourbon Festival! You can participate as a team or individual – no construction experience needed! Teams can also be sponsored by their companies. Register today!
Visit our Women Build Website to get involved today!