Habitat for Humanity Armenia - Habitat for Humanity Armenia seeks to eliminate poverty housing and homelessness from Armenia, and to make decent shelter a matter of conscience and action

Habitat for Humanity Armenia seeks to eliminate poverty housing and homelessness from Armenia, and to make decent shelter a matter of conscience and action www.habitat.am

Housing Renovation Project in Nor Kharberd community

On May 20 2010, Habitat Armenia started the implementation of a new housing renovation project in Nor Kharberd village of Ararat region in partnership with "Nor Horizon" Universal Credit Organization.

Project Overview: Housing Renovation project in Nor Kharberd community is a pilot project, which aims at providing the most cost-effective solutions to help 5 families by July 2011 to conduct construction works in their houses, mainly roof repairing and internal repairing works.

Nor Kharberd village is considered a strategically important location having big number (according to the needs assessment results more than 300 families have no opportunities to apply to banks for home improvement loans) of economically active families with huge housing needs. There are up to 300 homeless families, up to 200 incomplete homes and up to 500 homes needing an immediate renovation. Also, this area was used for hosting Global Village teams during construction season of 2010.

Partnership: HFHA offers to families a hands-up partnership opportunity. Habitat homeowner families build their own home with an affordable, long-term mortgage and also contribute hundreds of hours of volunteer labor or "sweat equity." Habitat Armenia cooperates with Nor Horizon" UCO in order to distribute the loans to the families. The mortgage payments go into a "Revolving Fund for Humanity" which is used to build more homes, thereby providing the financial foundation for a sustainable community development effort.

Selection of partner families: To be eligible for participating in this project client must fit the following criteria.

Low income, economically active people living mainly in rural areas, who haven't proper living conditions and are demanding home improvement loans, but haven't access to traditional banking services because of low incomes and absence of collateral acceptable for banks, but are credit worthy, otherwise are generating stabile income and are able to direct part of that income to repay loan.