Greater Nashua Habitat for Humanity

100 Countries
Our Mission	Emergency Housing References

Offering folks a hand-up,
not a hand-out.
Serving the communities of Amherst, Brookline, Hollis, Hudson, Greenville, Lyndeboro, Mason, Merrimack, Milford, Mont Vernon, Nashua, Pelham, Wilton, and Windham

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Whom Do We Help?

Greater Nashua Habitat for Humanity is an affiliate of Habitat for Humanity International, which is a non-profit, ecumenical Christian housing ministry. We seek to eliminate poverty housing and homelessness from the world and to make decent shelter a matter of conscience and action. We work toward this goal in two ways:

Building affordable homes for families that otherwise could not afford to purchase a house.
Providing assistance in critical repairs or modifications that the homeowner cannot afford.

Building affordable homes

Our primary mission is to build homes that are affordable to families that could not qualify for a conventional mortgage. The houses are sold to selected families via a no interest, 20-30 year mortgage. Families are selected based on three criteria:

Ability to pay for a Habitat house.

Actual need for decent housing.

Willingness to partner with Habitat for Humanity.

a)	To qualify to be a Habitat homeowner, the family’s income must be adequate to make monthly mortgage payments that include repaying a no interest mortgage, plus the property taxes, plus homeowner’s insurance. This monthly payment should not exceed 30% of the family’s monthly income. The family must be able to pay 1% of the mortgage as a down payment. The family must be credit worthy and must not have excessive debt. The target income level for a family is 25% to 50% of the median family income for the Greater Nashua area (see current HUD tables for median income levels). A typical Habitat house in the Greater Nashua area currently is sold in the range of $90,000 to $100,000.
b)	To be selected for a Habitat house, the family must have a critical need for improved housing. Factors that are considered are inadequate current housing, temporary housing, sub-standard housing conditions, rent that exceeds 50% of total monthly income, inadequate number of bedrooms for the members of the family, and unsuitable neighborhood.
c)	A selected family must be willing to partner with Greater Nashua Habitat for Humanity by providing a minimum of 350 hours of sweat equity (read our sweat equity policy) prior to closing on the house. The family must also fully cooperate with the Family Selection committee during its investigations and interviews. The family must also agree to make monthly mortgage payments on time and to participate in the Partnership Program.

The Application Process

Applications for a Greater Nashua Habitat for Humanity house are accepted for a limited period of time when we have land to build a house. Applications are not accepted at other times. If we are not currently accepting applications, you can contact us and ask to be notified when we do open the next application period. The following box shows our current status:

We are accepting applications for our next house

Click here to download an application.

Please Note: Our next house may be a single family or a multifamily house. You will be notified during the family selection process.

The period of time from when applications are accepted until a family is selected is approximately six months. The following steps are involved in the family selection process:

Applications are accepted for a limited period of time – usually 45 to 60 days. During that time, people on our contact list are notified, and notices are placed in area newspapers and other public places, as well as on this website.

When applications are received, they are checked to see if the information is complete. If something is missing, the applicant is notified and given up to 60 days to complete the required information.

When all necessary information is received, the application is reviewed to see if the family meets the financial qualifications. This includes income levels and credit worthiness. Employers, credit reports, bank accounts, etc. will be checked to verify the information supplied. All applicants that do not qualify for any reason will be notified.

Families that meet the financial qualifications will be contacted, and the first round of interviews with the Family Selection committee will be scheduled. During this interview, two members of the committee will visit the family at home to discuss their housing needs and willingness to participate in the partnership program. Families failing to meet the need and/or partnership requirements will be notified.

Families that meet all qualifications will be contacted, and a second round of interviews will be scheduled with the Family Selection committee. The second interview will be with two different committee members at home to further assess the family’s needs and willingness to partner with Greater Nashua Habitat for Humanity.

From the families with the greatest need and willingness to partner, the committee will select a family (or two in the case where a duplex will be built) to be owners of a Habitat house. The selected family (or families) must be approved by the board of directors. All remaining families will be notified as to whether they have been selected or not.

Once a family is selected for a Habitat house, the family will be assigned a representative from the Family Partnership committee. This representative will work with the family to support them with home ownership training, sweat equity requirements, and other matters from the time of being selected until the closing on the house. This time period may be one year or more.

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Providing assistance with critical repairs

Greater Nashua Habitat for Humanity does some critical repairs for needy homeowners during periods when we are not fully active building a house. The repairs must be needed for health or safety reasons. A typical example is building a ramp or widening a doorway for a family when some member has to start using a wheelchair. This service is provided only when the family owns the house – not on rental property.

To qualify for this service, the family must be unable to afford to have modifications made by a professional repair person. Typically, the family provides all materials, and Habitat for Humanity is only asked to provide the labor. In some cases, a loan to cover the materials may be made in an amount not to exceed $2,000. In either case, the family must go through an application and review process. If you wish to pursue this type of assistance, please contact us by email or phone, and somebody will contact you.

Important Note

Since we are an all-volunteer organization, and do most work only on Saturdays, we do not take on emergency repairs. We cannot guarantee completion of the review process or the work (if approved) within a short period of time. If you need emergency repairs, please check with other agencies.

Non-Profits We Have Assisted

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Non-profit Partners

When Greater Nashua Habitat for Humanity is not active building a house or doing small project repairs for needy homeowners, we often assist other non-profit organizations (that support the needy) in the Greater Nashua area with their repair projects. Some of the organizations we work with are the Nashua Soup Kitchen and Pastoral Care. If your organization would like to explore a partnership with us, please send us an email or contact us by phone.

If you have further questions about who we help and how, please send us a note.

Habitat For Humanity

Building Houses - Building Lives