Advocating for affordable homeownership
Owning a home is the key to building stability and wealth. Yet, with skyrocketing home prices, millions of people in the USA are locked out of homeownership. In Oregon, 1 IN 6 HOUSEHOLDS spend more than half of their income on housing. Lower-income households are especially likely to have unaffordable housing costs, requiring more than 30% of their income. That means the typical renter can’t afford to buy a home in Oregon. Read more at this fact sheet, 2025 State of Home Affordability in Oregon (PDF).
With hundreds of policy successes, Habitat for Humanity knows how to impact affordable housing at the local, state and federal levels. Habitat for Humanity uses expert resources, research and proven practices to call on policymakers and advocate for home affordability. We also leverage our community members in our advocacy efforts, because every voice matters – especially yours.
To expand homeownership opportunities for households of all backgrounds, Habitat for Humanity, including our affiliate, West Tuality Habitat, advocates for policies that increase affordable homes. Habitat for Humanity advocates to:
Increase the supply of homes for low- and moderate-income homebuyers.
Expand access to homeownership for people of all backgrounds.
Keep homes affordable and livable long term, ensuring homeowner resilience.
How? We advocate for policymakers to act, including:
Funding building and preservation of affordable homes.
Selling public land to affordable home builders.
Easing zoning restrictions for developments with affordable homes.
We support policies that ensure everyone, regardless of background, has a fair opportunity to own a home.
How? We advocate for policymakers to act, including to:
Expand down payment assistance programs.
Keep mortgage underwriting and credit scoring fair.
Grow access to financial coaching.
Support mortgage lending programs, especially in rural areas.
Even established homeowners can face costs they can’t afford. They may need a critical repairs they cannot afford, such as replacing an old carpet, or fixing plumbing issues, or installing an accessible ramp. As their house and insulation become dated, they may experience spiking energy bills.
We support policies that help homeowners stay in their homes and homes stay in a family.
How? We advocate for policymakers act, including to:
Invest in programs for critical repairs.
Fund efforts to update homes for aging homeowners and those with disabilities.
Lower home property taxes.
Provide financial assistance for energy-efficient upgrades.
Support programs that make homes climate resilient.
Read Habitat for Humanity’s national policy platform (PDF) to learn more about our advocacy strategies and priorities.
Habitat for Humanity’s Cost of Home campaign, which ran from 2019-2024, was a highly-targeted affordability advocacy campaign with the goal of influencing policies to increase access to affordable homes in response to escalating housing challenges, Habitat organizations supported over 460 policy successes and improved access to affordable homes for more than 9.5 million people through Cost of Home. These achievements are a direct result of the hard work, commitment and support of the Habitat network and Habitat homeowners, partners, sponsors and campaign endorsers throughout the five-year campaign. West Tuality Habitat was proud to be a part of the Cost of Home efforts.
Habitat also supports policies that improve a variety of housing issues in the U.S. and around the world, as well as those that empower nonprofits like Habitat to pursue their mission.
You can take action!
Advocating for affordable homes requires all of us, and there are many ways you can get involved. Here’s how you can be a housing advocate:
Connect with your policymakers.
Your local official want to know what matters to you.
Use this Habitat for Humanity template to easily email your members of Congress now.
Look at the web site for the city and the county where you live, and find out who represents your area. Write each of them and let them know you care about affordable housing at the local level and want to see more of it in your community, and that you want them to support new policy ideas and existing housing and community development programs.
Look at the web site for your state’s legislature and find out who represents your area. Write your representatives and let them know you care about affordable housing at the local level and want to see more of it in your community, and that you want them to support new policy ideas and existing housing and community development programs.
Educate Yourself
Follow both Habitat for Humanity and West Tuality Habitat on social media. Stay up-to-date on what we’re doing regarding advocating for affordable housing. Follow along during our yearly legislative conference in Washington, DC, Habitat on the Hill, as we talk directly to members of Congress about housing. You will also learn about West Tuality Habitat’s efforts with our Salem representatives and city and county officials. In Oregon, we also recommend you follow Habitat for Humanity Oregon on Facebook, which has frequent updates about state-level advocacy efforts.
Habitat has a series of +You discussions on the many ways that shelter is connected with other key societal issues. These talks feature Habitat for Humanity International’s leaders from across the U.S. and around the world in addition to external experts. We aim to raise up the importance of housing in the public conversation and highlight the important work that our organization is undertaking during these trying times.
Volunteer
Volunteer with West Tuality Habitat. It’s a great way to learn exactly what housing challenges exist in Western Washington County and exactly what you can do to help address those challenges. Perhaps after volunteering with us, you might want to join a local committee, or even our board, and then join us in our legislative advacacy efforts locally, in Salem, and perhaps even in Washington, DC.
Please note:
West Tuality Habitat for Humanity does not take positions on legislation or policies except for those that directly relate to the accessibility of affordable housing and which have been endorsed by Habitat for Humanity of Oregon or Habitat for Humanity International.