Habitat for Humanity keeps family home fires burning
• Habitat Volunteers are Lifeblood of Habitat Family
This Today Online story is a revised and updated version of a Today Magazine story that was first published in December 2023 — since then, former president and renowned Habitat volunteer Jimmy Carter died in December 2024
By Bruce Deckert — Today Magazine Editor-in-Chief
• There's no place like home.
• Home sweet home.
• Home is where the heart is.
SEO keyword: Habitat for Humanity keeps family
These three heartfelt sayings speak to our human yearning for home on this proverbial journey of life — in a paradoxically homesick world. Perhaps a journey isn’t a sufficient description — another metaphor is found at an amusement park, yet an amusing diversion for some is akin to utterly unnecessary terror for others. Yes, we can liken our life and home pilgrimage to a topsy-turvy up-and-down roller coaster ride.
Whether your experience of home has been marked by serene highs or tempestuous lows — or a hot-mess blend — let’s agree that a desire for a secure and vital and true home is universal for people of all nations vis-à-vis the shared hopes of the human heart.
The Habitat for Humanity model is simple yet profound: The primary vision enlists volunteer labor to help first-time homeowners build their own houses, supervised by a seasoned construction professional who is typically the only paid Habitat employee at a Habitat worksite. Indeed, volunteers are the lifeblood of the Habitat family.
The inaugural homeowners must qualify for a mortgage and actively engage via plain hard work — whether utilizing a carpenter’s plane or a cordless drill or a concrete mixer — to realize their dream of occupying a new home.
A secondary focus is to perform repairs and renovations for current homeowners whose age or physical disability or finances prevent such key maintenance, via the nonprofit’s A Brush With Kindness home-repair ministry.
Hartford’s Habitat affiliate celebrated its 35th anniversary in 2023, so the new-year math is simple: Our local Habitat is marking 37 years in 2025. From 1988, the year of its inception, through the summer of 2021 the Hartford-based Habitat was known — no surprise here — as the Hartford Area Habitat for Humanity.
When its coverage area grew to include Tolland County as well as Greater Hartford, a rebrand made sense, so the nonprofit’s name since August 2021 has been: Habitat for Humanity of North Central Connecticut. Conceived in Hartford, the affiliate continues to be headquartered in Connecticut’s capital city.
The aim of Habitat for Humanity is to leverage the communal human longing for a true home by inspiring volunteers and a new homeowner to invest sweat equity into new-home construction — so that non-home-owners have a fair chance at having and holding a place to call home. A common misunderstanding about Habitat is that people are presented a totally free-and-clear home on a silver platter.
SEO keyword: Habitat for Humanity keeps family
SEO keyword: Habitat for Humanity keeps family
“The biggest misconception is that our homeowners are given a house,” says Karraine Moody, CEO of Habitat North Central Connecticut. “The reality is that they have a 0% interest mortgage held by Habitat for Humanity, and they have to work to keep their home. The homeowners go through the same checks that a regular mortgage would require. Our motto: Habitat is a hand-UP, not a handout.”
Specifically, Habitat homeowners are required to spend 150 hours side-by-side with volunteers during the construction of their residence — the sweat-equity investment referenced above. Moreover, homeowners attend over 50 hours of financial literacy training.
Habitat’s goal is to stimulate constructive action and make the dream of homeownership a reality for families who not only yearn for such permanence but also are determined to achieve this dream.
The official Habitat mission statement reflects this ethos: “Seeking to put God’s love into action, Habitat for Humanity brings people together to build homes, communities and hope.”
The Habitat slogan rests on that missional foundation: “Building sustainable communities with hope.”
While Habitat operates on Christian principles, the organization has an open-door policy: “All who desire to be a part of this work are welcome, regardless of religious preference or background,” according to the Habitat website. “We have a policy of building with people in need regardless of race or religion. We welcome volunteers and supporters from all backgrounds.”
Moody’s work history includes key roles at Hamilton Sundstrand, United Technologies and the Hartford Public Schools.
“Coming from a corporate environment and moving into the nonprofit world, I love the mission of Habitat,” she says. “To see a piece of dirt become a backyard or a blighted property become the prize of a neighborhood is rewarding — it is being a part of something great from the beginning to the end. We have a small team, but together we do so much good. I truly love what we do together!”
“We make a difference in families and communities — we help improve family’s lives, homes, stability,” says Moody, noting that Habitat offers “a chance for a better education, better health, and tax dollars for the city they reside in.”
The tax component might be an overlooked aspect of the Habitat for Humanity equation. Habitat volunteers have long understood the win-win formula of neighbors pitching in to help a neighbor build a house — the urban equivalent of a rural barn-raising.
Yet how exactly does win-win describe this enterprise?
The answer is simple and multifaceted at the same time, with a list of win-win reasons seemingly as long as Interstate 84, but the response can boil down to the following essence: One win for the new homeowner is (naturally) a brand-new dwelling, and one win for the home-owning volunteer is on-the-job training in useful trade skills that enhance the ability to maintain one’s own home.
SEO keyword: Habitat for Humanity keeps family
“Seeking to put God’s love into action, Habitat for Humanity brings people together to build homes, communities and hope” — Habitat mission statement
SEO keyword: Habitat for Humanity keeps family
The taxation factor makes the Habitat calculation a win-win-win. Yes, a triple-win since the municipality — indeed, the greater community — also benefits from another house on the tax roll and an additional taxpaying real-estate holder.
In the 35-plus years that the Hartford-based affiliate has existed, over $40 million dollars have been added to the tax base in the Greater Hartford municipalities where Habitat has built residences, according to Moody.
In the past three-and-a-half decades, the organization has renovated and constructed about 370 homes in over 40 Connecticut towns and cities — providing about 1800 people with affordable and reliable housing with the help of over 140,000 volunteers … yes, more than 4,000 annually.
Habitat has built three homes in the Farmington Valley — one in Granby and two in Farmington — and hopes to make it four in the near future. Those two towns plus Avon, Canton and Simsbury define Today Online's specific five-town Valley coverage area as Today Publishing aims to cover community news that matters nationwide.
Over 100 Valley-based businesses, churches and organizations have partnered with the local nonprofit, and about 600 Valley volunteers have stepped up annually in recent years.
Further numbers illuminate the influence of this noteworthy nonprofit — and the numeral 10 figures prominently in the Habitat account in Connecticut and Greater Hartford. More specifically, a series of seven 10s, as follows:
• 1 — 10 million — yes, Habitat for Humanity has served and resolved the housing needs of over 10 million people around the world, according to a Habitat website •
• 2 — 10 new clean-energy homes featuring solar panels in the Burnside Hope development in East Hartford •
• 3 — Each year 10 houses are built on average in Greater Hartford, according to Habitat's North Central Connecticut website, and 25-30 families are served annually via a multilayered program of new construction, house renovations and repairs •
• 4 — 10 straight Four-Star Charity ratings from Charity Navigator — based on a ratings system that ranges from zero stars to four stars • Habitat scored the highest possible Four-Star rating: a perfect 100% • Founded in 2001, Charity Navigator has been called the Consumer Reports of the nonprofit world — the assessment organization is the nation’s largest and most-utilized evaluator of charities, per various sources •
• 5 — 10 Energy Star-certified houses — buildings that meet strict energy performance standards set by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency — built in 2022 • Plus: The local Habitat received the 2022 Housing Innovation Award Competition in the Affordable Homes category from the U.S. Department of Energy •
• 6 — 10-plus families were served with essential house repairs through Habitat's A Brush With Kindness in a recent fiscal year — this program assists low-income families with repairs and renovations, focusing on elderly and infirm homeowners • Plus: Habitat served 30 more local families via the homeownership program, financial literacy coaching and otherwise •
• 7 — The 10th anniversary of Habitat’s Bloomfield-based ReStore was celebrated in 2024 — the Hartford affiliate opened a second ReStore in Vernon in January 2022 •
To understand the ReStore concept, think Lowe’s and Home Depot and HomeGoods combined with a quality thrift store — at a fraction of regular retail prices thanks to donations of an extensive inventory of appliances, assorted equipment, building supplies, gently-used furniture, household items and much more. Budget-friendly home improvement merchandise awaits savvy bargain shoppers in thousands of square feet of retail space.
Naturally, all sales support Habitat’s home-front mission.
And there’s more — a near 10: For nine straight years, the Hartford Business Journal has named Hartford’s Habitat affiliate one of the Best Places to Work in Connecticut, and the Hartford Courant has given the nonprofit a Best Place to Work award for the past seven years.
“The most fulfilling aspect is seeing the impact of homeownership — the initial sense of completion at the home dedication, and seeing the parents smiling and children pointing out which room is going to be theirs,” says Moody, who graduated from Trinity College in 2001. “I’ve had the pleasure of attending graduations, weddings and new business grand openings by our Habitat homeowners. It is the greatest sense of coming full circle and how the mission impacts the surrounding community at the macro level.”
Moody first joined Hartford’s Habitat team as the family services director in November 2005. In January 2009, she started her own consulting business, Moody Consulting Firm. She returned to Habitat as the local CEO in January 2014.
SEO keyword: Habitat for Humanity keeps family
“We have a small team but together we do so much good — I truly love what we do together” — Karraine Moody
SEO keyword: Habitat for Humanity keeps family
Habitat for Humanity International was founded by Millard and Linda Fuller in 1976, but the organization’s most visible supporters and volunteers have undoubtedly been Jimmy and Rosalynn Carter, the former President and First Lady. Habitat’s dual global headquarters are located in Atlanta and Americus, Georgia — the state Jimmy Carter served as governor.
After Rosalynn’s death in November at the age of 96, four days before Thanksgiving, Moody issued a statement that reads in part:
“Habitat for Humanity of North Central CT is deeply saddened by the passing of former U.S. first lady Rosalynn Carter, who was a champion and strong voice for affordable, decent housing for all. For more than three decades, she and President Jimmy Carter donated their time and leadership to Habitat each year to build and improve homes around the world…
“As a lifelong advocate and humanitarian, Mrs. Carter truly exemplified kindness, compassion and devotion while supporting those in need — touching the lives of women, families and volunteers around the world. Her impact will continue to build strength, equality and empowerment for generations to come…
“While Habitat for Humanity has lost a dear friend, passionate supporter and tireless advocate, we celebrate her life and distinguished accomplishments.”
The international Habitat for Humanity operation has affiliates across all 50 U.S. states and in about 70 countries, per the Habitat website. Each local affiliate is an independent nonprofit organization that coordinates building in its area.
“Habitat gives us an opportunity which is very difficult to find,” Jimmy Carter said. “To reach out and work side by side with those who never have had a decent home — but work with them on a completely equal basis. It’s not a big-shot, little-shot relationship. It’s a sense of equality.”
It’s safe to say that Habitat for Humanity of North Central Connecticut hopes to promote equality and equitable home ownership for at least another 37 years. +
• Habitat's North Central Connecticut website • 860-541-2208
Today Publishing features community news that matters nationwide and aims to record Connecticut’s underreported upside — covering the heart of the Farmington Valley and beyond
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• Homegrown Hope – Habitat for Humanity makes dreams reality
In the February 2022 cover story linked immediately above, Today Magazine incorrectly reported that the Hartford-based Habitat was established in 1989 — however, a Habitat representative has confirmed that 1988 is the accurate founding date, as has been correctly reported in this Today Online story
SEO keyword: Habitat for Humanity keeps family
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