Habitat for Humanity has partnered with its local Habitat organizations to place AmeriCorps members in communities throughout the United States. These members help engage volunteers, develop resources, and support families. This support is intended to improve performance at local Habitat organizations.

Study Goals

The focus of the evaluation was to determine if hosting AmeriCorps National and VISTA members helped local Habitat organizations better serve communities across the United States.

Research Questions

The purpose of the evaluation was to track processes and outcomes of the Habitat AmeriCorps partnership. The study compared Habitat organizations that hosted AmeriCorps members against organizations that did not. The evaluation measured this by asking the following questions:
  • Do AmeriCorps members help Habitat organizations serve more families, engage more volunteers, and offer services related to housing?
  • Do AmeriCorps members benefit from their service by gaining useful workforce training, learning new skills, and experiencing an increase in civic engagement?

Findings

The evaluation collected survey data from 1,400 Habitat for Humanity affiliates in the United States. The findings include:
  • AmeriCorps members increased the ability of local Habitat sites to serve more families by building and rehabbing more homes:
    • On average, host affiliates were expected to build approximately nine more homes per year than comparable sites that didn’t host members.
  • AmeriCorps members helped Habitat sites serve more families by engaging more volunteers:
    • On average, Habitat sites that hosted members engaged 70% more volunteers than non-hosting sites.
  • Habitat affiliates thought AmeriCorps members improved the ability and sustainability of the organization by helping the organizations with:
    • Short-term productivity
    • Expansion of reach
    • A pipeline of strong employees
    • Sustainable change
  • AmeriCorps members benefitted from their service by learning new skills:
    • Seventy-eight percent of members gained homebuilding skills
    • Sixty-five percent gained leadership abilities
    • Sixty percent learned project management skills
For more information, download the full report.
 

Full report

Full Report
FR_HabitatforHumanity_Internatl_..EvalReport.pdf

Further information

Program/Intervention
HFH National Service Program
Implementing Organization
Habitat for Humanity Affiliates
Intermediary(s)

Habitat for Humanity International

AmeriCorps Program(s)
AmeriCorps State and National
Age(s) Studied
18-25 (Young adult)
26-55 (Adult)
55+ (Older adult)
Outcome Category
Housing
Benefit to national service members/volunteers
Study Type(s)
Outcomes
Impact
Level of Evidence
Strong
Published Year
2016