05/04/2026
A 33-year-old single mother and cashier in North Carolina earning $45,000 a year bought a $350,000 townhome with no down payment through Habitat for Humanity's homebuyer program. Instead of cash, she contributed 200 hours of sweat equity, including construction work on other homes, homeownership classes, and volunteer shifts at a Habitat ReStore. Habitat then connected her with a local bank for a low-interest mortgage capped at 27% of her monthly income, bringing her payment to $1,100 a month.
