Itasca County Habitat for Humanity (ICHFH) has built 33 safe, decent, affordable homes in Itasca County since 1992. In addition, we have built 28 homes in Mexico by tithing to Habitat for Humanity International. Not only do your donations support local efforts in Itasca County, they support global efforts to eliminate substandard housing.

Your gifts help families in need and the impact is far-reaching. Here is an incredible story from an incredible Habitat homeowner:

"I'm gonna give you a brief summary of where we were in life. I used to live from house to house, place to place, never nowhere perminent. All I ever dreamed of was owning my own home so nobody could tell me to leave. Never in a million years did I ever think that one day I would become a homeowner. When I decided to straighten my life out and clean myself up, good this happened...especially miracles. I got my GED and started moving forward. It was nice. I filled out an application for Habitat and after a visit or two and a lot of talking and they saw my progress that I had made in my life, they selected me. I jumped up and down I was so happy. It was a dream come true. It was a lot of hard work and dedication building my house and my friends houses too but it was way worth it. I would have done it for a lifetime because I met lots of people-volunteers that just made your day better. Now we live in our house, my twin daughters and me and I couldn't ask for a better thing. My neighbors, I just love them, my kids have lots of friends, we love our house and I would just like to say thanks to everyone that made our dreams come true."

-Kristie, Tabytha & Sprey

Now in our 20th year, ICHFH is embarking on another housing solution; A Brush With Kindness (ABWK). A Brush With Kindness is a repair program for low-income existing homeowners. In keeping with the principle that Habitat is a hand up not a hand out, homeowners who participate in ABWK are required to do sweat equity and pay for the repairs with a zero percent interest loan.

In 2007, Itasca County Habitat for Humanity opened a ReStore. The ReStore is a home improvement store that sells new and used, donated building materials to the general public. Since opening, the ReStore has diverted over 1.9 million pounds of materials from the local landfills. ReUse, ReCycle, ReStore.