Yakima Valley Partners Habitat for Humanity is a private non-profit, non-denominational Christian ministry that builds homes in partnership with qualified low-income families in the Yakima Valley. Habitat for Humanity is a homeownership program in which families purchase homes at no profit through interest-free mortgages we provide. Yakima Valley Partners Habitat for Humanity does not build homes for families; rather, it builds alongside those who demonstrate need and willingness to partner with Habitat. Homeowner families invest 500 hours of "sweat equity" labor into the houses. Their monthly mortgage goes into a revolving fund for Humanity to help fund the construction of more houses in the Yakima Valley. Through this approach, Habitat gives partner families a hand up, not a handout, restoring the dignity that poverty can strip away. Habitat work sites are places to build relationships as well as houses. Modeled on biblical principles, Habitat's self-help solution to the blight of substandard housing is popular with people from many political, professional, ethnic, and religious backgrounds. This is the essence of Habitat's "Theology of the Hammer," which invites diverse individuals to find common ground in using a hammer and sharing a goal. In freeing families from the unending struggles that accompany inadequate shelter, Habitat houses open the door to increased self-esteem and self-reliance. In turn, families can devote more attention to job opportunities, education, and health. As the cycle of poverty is broken, their children benefit, their neighborhoods change for the better, and entire communities improve.