Sandtown-Winchester is a vibrant West Baltimore community with a rich history and deep cultural traditions.  The housing stock in Sandtown, although architecturally beautiful, has deteriorated. The median income in the neighborhood is less than $15,000. Too many Sandtown families with incomes below the median must rent substandard units from absentee landlords, and hundreds of units sit vacant and boarded.  Awareness of Sandtown’s housing crisis led members of New Song Community Church to initiate an affiliate of Habitat for Humanity in 1989 to respond to the challenge of rebuilding homes and hope.
 
Sandtown Habitat for Humanity is a nonprofit Christian housing organization. Its purposes are to rebuild the vacant housing in Sandtown, increase homeownership and improve the health of the community.  Habitat serves to build not just new homes, but also new relationships and an increased sense of community.
 
Sandtown Habitat works in partnership with the prospective homeowners, chosen from applicants by a family selection committee on the basis of the family’s level of need, willingness to become partners in the program and ability to repay the home loan. Homeowners must invest at least 330 hours of “sweat equity” in their own home and those of others. 
 
Using mostly volunteer labor, donated materials and private funding to minimize expenses, Sandtown Habitat is able to complete a rehabilitated home for about $100,000, roughly one-third the cost for traditional development.  Sandtown Habitat sells the homes at cost to low-income families on a 20-30 year mortgage with no interest. Payments go into a revolving fund that helps finance other homes in the community. Using this model, Sandtown Habitat has completed and sold its first 230 homes.
 
Volunteers come from Sandtown as well as from outside the community and include individuals as well as numerous congregational, corporate and civic groups. All are overseen by our full-time construction staff.
 
The majority of Sandtown Habitat’s funding comes from congregations, corporations, foundations, colleges and universities and individuals. Two other major partners are involved in every home rehabilitation: The Baltimore City Department of Housing and Community Development supplies vacant houses for rehabilitation as well as general support, and Enterprise Community Partners provides construction financing, grants and technical support.  Whiteford, Taylor & Preston provides all legal work pro bono. 
 
Sandtown Habitat is committed to eliminating all vacant housing in the 15 block focus area which will be equivalent to approximately 350 houses for Sandtown families. Together, our full-time staff, 230 new homeowners, and thousands of volunteers are joyfully rebuilding homes and hope together in Sandtown.

Click on the links below to learn more about this ministry:

• Newsong Urban Ministries in Sandtown
• CPC's First House
• CPC's Second House
• CPC's Third House, the beginning
• CPC's Third House, update 08-23-2008
• CPC's Third House, update 09-15-2008
• CPC's Third House, update 09-18-2008
• CPC's Third House, update 10-02-2008
• CPC's Third House, update 10-05-2008
• CPC's Third House, update 10-09-2008
• CPC's Third House, update 10-14-2008
• CPC's Third House, update 10-23-2008
• CPC's Third House, update 10-30-2008
• CPC's Third House, update 11-01-2008
• CPC's Third House, update 11-06-2008
• CPC's Third House, update 11-13-2008
• CPC's Third House, update 11-20-2008
• CPC's Third House, update 01-22-2009
• CPC's Third House, update 02-12-2009
• CPC's Third House, update 02-14-2009
• CPC's Third House, update 02-19-2009
• CPC's Third House, update 02-26-2009
• CPC's Third House, update 02-28-2009
• CPC's Third House, update 03-05-2009
• CPC's Third House, update 03-12-2009
• CPC's Third House, update 03-14-2009
• CPC's Third House, update 03-19-2009
• CPC's Third House, update 03-26-2009
• CPC's Third House, update 04-02-2009
• CPC's Third House, update 04-09-2009
• CPC's Third House, update 04-16-2009
• Gerry's Goods
• Volunteer Guidelines
• Habitat for Humanity Liability Waiver Form
• Habitat for Humanity Skills Survey

Habitat Third House Slideshow: Click below to Launch