Habitat for Humanity of Washington County is a locally run affiliate of Habitat for Humanity International, a non-profit, ecumenical housing organization. We are a ministry that seeks to eliminate substandard housing and to make decent shelter a matter of conscience and action. Working with families and volunteers of all backgrounds in equal partnership, Habitat builds homes, builds communities, and builds hope. Poverty and inadequate housing not only affect those living in the situation, they affect the whole community! They breed crime, drugs, hopelessness, and despair. Being a homeowner is a victory; it changes people. We see Habitat homeowners go back to school and get their GEDs, enter college, do all kinds of things they never believed they could do before they moved into their house. By their own initiative, through their own pride and hope, they change. Everyone, every last person, deserves decent shelter. It speaks to the most basic of human needs. We each have need for food, clothing, education, medical care, and companionship; but first we must have a place to live and grow. Habitat for Humanity of Washington County seeks to build lives as well as houses. Through the houses we build, hope is restored, lives are changed, and communities become healthier as the cycle of need is broken.