Purpose:
The basic goal of the Family Partnership committee is to help families break the poverty cycle and become interdependent by sharing with them the Love of God. The Committee seeks to welcome new families into the Habitat family and to provide them with a mutual support system, educational opportunities, and a forum for discussions regarding home ownership and relevant Habitat policies and procedures. The committee is the primary liaison between the affiliate and the homeowner families and enables the affiliate to learn more from Habitat families and thus constantly improve its program.
Member’s Skills and Attributes:
- Have good “social/people” skills
- Understand the difference between “enabling” and “empowering”
- Understand the difference between “doing for” and “doing with”
- Understand HFH sweat equity policy
- Know HFH House Design Criteria and understand the principles the design criteria is based on
- Know the parameters for decisions families can and can not make regarding house design and decorating options
- Know HFH “closing” process
- Be familiar with HFH Family Selection process and homeowner orientation procedures
- Know the basics of house construction and maintenance
- Know the volunteer sign-up procedures
- Be familiar with the basics of Public Relations and dealing with the media
- Be familiar with adult learning principles and curriculum development
The Committee Will:
- Support families as a friend and information resource
- Provide homeowner training resources
- Train family sponsor / advocate / friends (S/A/F)
- Develop tools and materials for supporting families, which may include a homeowner manual and tracking sheet
- Provide feedback to the Board regarding the effectiveness of current policies and procedures and an update of sweat equity hours
- Assure that families understand and complete required sweat equity hours
- Assist families throughout the entire process of becoming homeowners (answering questions, helping with planning and budgeting, recording sweat equity hours, identifying other community resources, follow-up explanations of training workshop materials, providing home maintenance tips, etc.)
- Maintain an environment of strict confidentiality
- Develop an annual plan and submit a budget to the Board